We see deer crossing the streets in Indian queue without hurrying, to move from one wood to another. At dusk, they set up for the night in the backgrounds, sometimes a few meters from the houses. On her terrace, Renée Amyot has already seen up to 12, lying against each other. His neighbor, Simon Nadeau, counted 17.
Dozens of them, if not anymore, now live year -round in the sector. 10 years ago, their presence aroused wonder. “When we settled here, 30 years ago, there was not at all,” says Renée Amyot, president of the association of residents of the Limbur district. “We were happy to see one from time to time. Now they sleep in a small wooded next to the house. In winter, they no longer move, sheltered from the wind and predators. ”
Cohabitation is no longer as harmonious. Because if the deer found a welcoming refuge in Limbur, their growing presence begins to harm the environment. In the woods, there is a phenomenon of overbuilding: young shoots disappear even before they can grow. In some places, small trees have disappeared from the undergrowth.
“They taste everything,” explains Simon Nadeau, a retired biologist involved in reforestation projects. “They love maple, oak, yellow birch shoots. They do not disdain a bite of Amélanchier or poplar. ”
The association of residents has installed two bins-one for pollinators, another for urban agriculture-but deer uses it as a pantry. Ecological restoration projects, such as the eradication of nervous, an invasive plant, are also threatened. Even the fences do not settle anything: some deer managed to cross them to graze young plantations.
Only a few essences, such as spruce, larch or black walnuts, seem to resist their gluttony.
In residential streets, the impacts are increasing. Bulbs of tulips, tomatoes, orpins: nothing is spared. “The deer come out of the woods and go through the streets to graze in the flowerbeds,” says Renée Amyot. She ended up closing her courtyard, as much to protect her plants as to prevent her dog from chasing them.
Safe and nourishing
Unlike the Michel-Chartrand park in Longueuil, where the deer was landlocked, those of Limbour come and go freely. The district has four parks connected by forest corridors totaling more than 440,000 square feet. For deer, it is a huge continuous, safe and nourishing habitat. “In summer, they should migrate to the forest, further north, but they no longer move away. The pantry is too easy to access, ”observes Renée Amyot.
Street crossings are frequent, especially on the coast of Chemin Lebaudy. “In the past five years, I had to stop thirty times to let them pass,” she said.
In June, Renée Amyot spoke before the City of Gatineau’s environment committee. She asked that a clear portrait of the deer population is drawn up: how many are they, what are their impacts, what is the trend? “I’m not saying that you have to take out the rifle and shoot them all,” she says. “But you have to know where we are. And try to plan: in 5 or 10 years, what will it look like? “
The Commission acknowledged that it was the first time that the question was raised in Limbour, and has committed to analyzing the situation.
Avoid psychodrama
People love deer, says Renée Amyot. And the animals make it well. Today, they cheerfully walk in the neighborhood. They no longer fear humans – even females accompanied by their faes are approached.
Many residents have ceased to feed them, but the authorities must now study the situation closely to avoid a psychodrama.
“We do not want to relive a copy-paste from Longueuil,” insists Renée Amyot, in reference to the controversy of 2024, when overcrowding had led to the slaughter of more than a hundred animals in urban areas.
Nature does not negotiate, it adapts. And the deer too. In Limbour, their dazzling adaptation raises a fundamental question: how far can we welcome this charming fauna without compromising the ecosystems that we seek to protect? That is the question, said Hamlet. And Gatineau has an interest in answering it as quickly as possible.