Re: “Sharpshooters, bounties eyed in deer battle,” Feb. 26.

Committees have spent too much time dithering and accomplishing nothing, and now the does are pregnant, each about to dump one to three fawns on the landscape (what there is left of it).

The provincial government has irresponsibly sloughed this off onto the Capital Regional District and no politician, provincial or municipal, has the guts to do what is necessary for fear of losing a few votes. Anti-feeding bylaws and fencing are non-starters. Sprays are absolutely useless. There’s no such thing as deer-resistant except for rhodos, lavender, iris and monkshood. I know — I tried them all. Open-season year round would be good.

Farm areas are a priority and then clear the rest of the CRD. Esquimalt is overrun. My neighbour has seen seven or eight of them in a field at the end of Munro Street at 5 a.m. while walking his dog. After I nearly had a heart attack chasing five of them out of my yard (they were back in five minutes), I had to have a fence built.

Let’s get real, people. These things are not cute. They are mangy, defecating, tick-laden, Lyme-disease-carrying, garden-destroying, oversized rodents.

Bring on the sharpshooters!

Myrna Smith,

Victoria

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