Whatcha doin’ downtown, little deer?

Welcome to the Jungle

I passed a deer at the side of the road the other day. Not necessarily a big thing if you’re living in Metchosin or the Highlands, say, or back when I was based out of the Cariboo (where I once had to back away from a bear and was even chased by a moose, but those are two completely different stories best told with liberal libations). But this deer was at the corner of Cook and Johnson—a logical place to catch a bus, but not such a great spot for Bambi to hang. Stranger still, it was the second deer I’d seen that day; the other—sporting a full rack, no less—was just by the McKenzie exit off the Pat Bay Highway. (Let’s hope he used the overpass.)

Now, I’ve become more than used to the raccoons who’ve been living under my garage for the past few years (much like Quebec, we live separate lives on common land), but a downtown deer struck me as a little odd. Intrigued, I called the BC SPCA’s Wild ARC—your source for all wild-animal related questions. “It’s really unusual, but it does happen,” says Wild ARC administrator Angela Kendall. “Urban wildlife definitely exists in our city; we co-exist with wildlife no matter where we live.”

Kendall says we’re more likely to encounter the likes of nesting ducks and goslings than larger mammals like the occasional headline-grabbing cougar. “At this time of the year, people see deer fawns and, because they don’t see a mom, they think it’s orphaned—when in fact moms spend several hours a day foraging over long distances, so it’s quite normal for them to be alone. It’s the same with young birds—as fledglings they spend quite a bit of time on the ground; it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re injured.”

Turns out Wild ARC started as an offshoot of the Victoria SPCA in 1997 and has been its own branch of the BC SPCA since 2002. And while Kendall notes there are other rehab centres, Wild ARC is the only one that’s a branch of the SPCA, the only SPCA branch that’s an actual rehab centre and is also the only rehab centre for all of Southern Vancouver Island. As such, they take in over 1,800 animals a year and over 200 a month at this time of year, says Kendall—including more than 100 ducklings and goslings alone this month, up significantly from the 40 they had all of last year.

Mostly they deal with birds (from hummingbirds to herons) and small-to-medium-sized mammals like seals, fawns and even some baby river otters. “They’re just adorable,” laughs Kendall. But don’t think that means she’ll be sneaking an otter home as a pet; Wild ARC’s four staff and 100 volunteers don’t cuddle the animals and they don’t give them names. “We keep our human contact down to the absolute minimum we need to care for them.”

Kendall says sometimes it’s people’s best intentions that cause trouble—for themselves and the animals. “Not only is it inappropriate and unsafe to raise a wild animal yourself, but it’s illegal as well. A lot of people don’t realize that you require a permit from the government to rehabilitate an animal.” As such, what should people do if they spot a critter in the city? “If people see any wildlife they think is in distress, just call us and we’ll advise them what to do,” says Kendall. “They shouldn’t try to rehabilitate animals themselves or even feed the wildlife. Those are three of the biggest issues that have an impact on local wildlife.”

Coincidentally, the SPCA is kicking off its annual Paws for a Cause fundraising campaign this week. “All of our funding comes from the general public,” says Kendall, noting that while they won’t turn any animal away they still receive no direct government funding. So if you’ve got a spare buck for a, uh, buck, you know who to call. M

For more information, e-mail akendall@spca.bc.ca, click to wildarc.com or call 250-478-9453.