The town of Penticton is joining a growing list of B.C. communities taking the drastic step of culling deer in an attempt to deal with the overpopulated and sometimes aggressive animals.
City council has voted to follow the lead of towns like Kimberley and Cranbrook and will trap the deer, kill them and then feed the carcasses to the needy.
"It's not eradication. Please don't take it as that. What it is, it's a control of the numbers, and the number of urban deer, those living in the core, has come up dramatically," Mayor Dan Ashton told CTV News.
He says the deer are eating garden plants and attracting other wildlife ranging from ticks to coyotes and cougars. They've also caused car crashes and have occasionally clashed with humans.
"There have been altercations between pets and deer and individuals and deer," Ashton said.
He acknowledges that the idea of killing deer might be distasteful to nature lovers, but the plan is to move ahead with counting the deer before deciding how many need to be eliminated.
"This is a bit of a Pandora's box, because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't," Ashton said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
