Source: Radio New Zealand
Wild deer spotted by Whanganui resident. SUPPLIED
Wild deer roaming the streets of suburban Whanganui are delighting some residents while raising concerns for others.
But authorities say there’s little they can do about the animals which are wandering off private farmland.
Paterson Street in the suburb of Aramoho borders steep farmland in East Whanganui.
Its manicured lawns and bountiful fruit trees have become a magnet for deer which have become a common sight in the neighbourhood.
Philippa Healy was a fan.
“We’re in Paterson Street just at the end of Kells Ave and very frequently we see the deer coming.
“It used to be just in the night time you’d catch them every so often, but now it’s even during the day they’re coming out and getting the plums off the trees and stuff like that, so it’s really quite cool.
“They’re just taking stuff that’s fallen on the ground and for us it’s not such a problem.”
Healey rushed to get her children every time she saw the deer, so they could see them too.
Near neighbour and evening worker Cherie Ball said deer numbers had been on the rise.
Cherie Ball enjoys seeing the wild deer about Paterson Street. Robin Martin/RNZ
“When we do come home from work sometimes from 11.30pm until 1am we’ll just see them.
“They’ll be on the side of the road, so you’re always cautious when you come around the corner into Paterson Street anyway because sometimes they are in the middle of the road
“But they are babies at the moment and they don’t know any better.”
Jack Cade recently brought a house with down a right of way on Paterson Street which borders farmland.
“I didn’t know anything about the deer when I brought it, but soon to my amazement there was about 20 or 30 every morning.
“I’ve just kind of inherited them, but they’re quite good they keep the lawns down for everyone and it’s quite a unique characteristic for the place.”
Jack Cade bought his Paterson Street house recently without knowing up to 30 wild deer frequented its orchard on a regular basis. Robin Martin/RNZ
Whanganui District Council said its animal management team only responded to reports of wild deer if they were creating a traffic hazard.
Operations manager regulatory and compliance, Jason Shailer, said in those instances it assisted, with police where appropriate, to reduce the risk to road users.
“Deer are classified as a pest species and management is the responsibility of the landowner when it becomes an issue.
“The council doesn’t have the authority to cull deer on private land and is not resourced to carry out pest control for private property owners.
Shailer said people concerned about deer on their property could consider altering their fences to keep them out
A couple of kilometres from Paterson Street, deer were also a common sight on Dehli Ave.
Hadi Gurton lived at the Dehli Village co-housing settlement.
They had tried fencing them out.
“We’ve been having the deer coming down quite a bit. My dog, Bella, love to chase them, but they do eat the trees.
“We’ve planted a lot of trees on the hillside there and they tend to browse the trees, so we discourage them.
“We’ve put deer-proof fencing all across the top of our section, but the come down and then go back up and actually get caught up there.”
Hadi Gurton of Dehli Village says his dog Bella enjoys chasing the deer off the property. Robin Martin/RNZ
He said every few years the settlement organised a hunter to cull deer on its land.
The Department of Conservation was responsible for wild animal management on conservation estate.
But there was no public conservation land within about 15km of Aramoho.
DOC referred RNZ to Horizons Regional Council.
Its team leader animal pests, Daniel Hurley, said it was similarly hamstrung.
“Horizons doesn’t have the authority to deal with deer on private land as they’re not included in our Regional Pest Management Plan, and controlling deer is up to the individual landowners or occupiers.
“If Aramoho residents do see deer requiring control within their suburb, they should contact the relevant landowner or occupier.”
Cherie Ball wouldn’t be reporting anyone, she’d like the deer to stay.
“We are getting quite a few deer now, but I actually quite like them. They don’t annoy us, they don’t bother our gardens or anything.
“It’s actually quite nice having the deer wandering around and a lot of people in this neighbourhood know about the deer, so they know at night time not to go speeding down the street and stuff like that.”
Hurley said the regional council was reviewing its pest management plan next year for the first time in a decade.
It would start collating community views on potential issues and possible solutions later this year, he said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
