Oak Bay is asking homeowners to help with an experimental program that will use contraceptives to manage the district's deer population this fall.
Mayor Kevin Murdoch took to Twitter asking people to register their property online so wildlife veterinarians can access the deer wherever they decide to go.
They will be searching for deer during the day and using immune-contraceptive (IC) treatment to control numbers.
Once a female deer is found, vets will sedate the deer and administer the IC vaccine.
Oak Bay is teaming up with the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society (UWSS), which is composed of expert wildlife scientists and vets to apply an evidence based approach to deer population management.
In 2016, Oak Bay Council signed onto the provincial deer cost-share research program with the UWSS.
Over the past 18 months they have been analyzing and collecting data as well as educating the public with the goal of better understanding deer ecology.
Over time, the contraceptives are projected to slow population growth in Oak Bay's black-tail deer population, long considered a nuisance in the southern Vancouver Island community.
The data will give insight into how to properly manage urban deer as a community.
Oak Bay has made previous efforts to curb the growth of its deer population, including a cull of 11 deer in 2015.
