As deer proliferate in the Townships, many residents cry «stop!». Photo by David Winch

Why are animal species both thriving and facing extinction in Townships?

By David Winch

Local Journalism Initiative

Wildlife is everywhere in the Townships. But some animal species are surging, while others are definitely not. Two examples of these extremes are deer and sturgeon.

Everyone sees how ubiquitous white-tailed deer are here. Regional conditions are ideal, with leafy deciduous forests, many farm fields and … tasty gardens.

 Anaïs Gasse, a biologist for the Quebec ministry of forests, wildlife and parks, told The Record in November 2022 that the provincial government is aware of the deer boom in the Townships and has been trying to address the situation. “In the Eastern Townships, we have milder winters [than further north] … and we don’t have very many effective predators in the territory,” she explained.

There are no wolves, a few pockets of coyotes and some bear in the region, but not nearly enough to effectively control the deer. In 2021, the Quebec ministry of wildlife estimated the provincial deer population at 250,000 head— double the number in the 1990s. More control measures are needed.

Hunting licences increased

The province has increased the number of antlerless deer licences, allowing more hunters to target fawns and females, government biologist François Lebel told the CBC.

Hunters are now bagging nearly 50,000 deer a year. “When we are overpopulated with deer, we must reduce the population, and unfortunately, to decrease [that number], it is with a lethal method,” said Lebel.

This reduction may be difficult. Deer are a species known as “synanthropes” – animals that can thrive around human settlements. Deer have this aptitude, along with raccoons, squirrels, geese, rats, coyotes, pigeons, crows and, increasingly, wild turkeys.

Pristine nature is not their sole home. Even the biggest cities feel their increasing presence.

The New Yorker magazine reported in 2021 how deer are thriving in the biggest city in North America. There are now lots of deer in the New York borough of Staten Island; they first swam there from suburban New Jersey. Aerial studies by low-flying planes in 2014 counted 763 deer in the green spaces of the borough’s 18.7 square miles.

This puts local greenery under pressure. And the lack of predators for these urban and suburban deer is obvious.

A much-viewed YouTube documentary highlights how the reintroduction of predators can radically affect deer numbers and forest biology.

Deer in Yellowstone Park had been running wild, with populations booming. They chomped down grass pastures, and reduced the number of full-grown shade trees (see https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/ ).

Once wolves were re-introduced there in 1995, deer started to avoid open grassy areas. Vegetation bounced back. This provided more habitat for songbirds. Firmer watersheds were good for beaver, and fish took advantage of deeper rivers. Wolves also killed coyotes, which meant more foxes and small mammals.

We can only imagine – or fear — how a peak predator prowling around the Townships might affect our deer population, and later, local vegetation.

Instead, we will have to rely on hunters. Venison, anyone?

Sturgeon still around?

At the opposite end of the wildlife spectrum are sturgeon, known to biologists as lake sturgeon (or in French, esturgeon jaune).

Many people in the Townships have seen the classic “fishermen’s chart” wall-plaque, sold around Lake Massawippi. Its handwritten text highlights fishing holes and Massawippi-area animal habitats. It states clearly: “Sturgeon, 50 to 75 lbs., once swam in this lake. Last seen about 1927.”

A brief internet search turns up evidence to the contrary. The Eastern Townships Resource Centre site displays several photos of triumphant fishermen with sturgeon; in one catch dated 1969, a sportsman holds up an 86-pounder from Lake Massawippi.

After I asked on Facebook’s “Friends of Lake Massawippi” page for recent sturgeon sightings, one poster replied: “I saw a large one in Bacon’s Bay around 1999. It was in shallow [water], resting on the bottom. It looked like a log. It then slowly rose near the surface when I passed over it on a windsurfer board. There were two other witnesses with me. We’ve never forgotten it.”

Veteran fishermen in the area, however, caution that false sightings are common. The real number of sturgeon in that lake today, they say, is likely “zero”.

The water-control dam built downstream from North Hatley in 1967 effectively ended sturgeon spawning in the Massawippi River. The fish ladder installed there is not appropriate for slow-moving bass or sluggish sturgeon; they don’t leap like salmon.

Lake sturgeon prefer fast-moving water and spawn where they find that environment. They “can be found at depths of at least 5 meters but no greater than 20 meters,” clarifies Nature Canada. Sturgeon can still be found in good numbers further downstream in the St. Francis River, which eventually empties into the St. Lawrence.

Nature Canada notes that lake sturgeon also remains a threatened species because “it was overfished starting in the late 1800s and early 1900s.” Huge sturgeon hauls were even used as farm fertilizer. Their numbers fell steeply.

 Sturgeon have relatively few outspoken defenders, perhaps because they are not cute and cuddly: “The largest freshwater fish in Canada, the lake sturgeon, can be easily recognized by its external bony scutes which are noticeable ridges along the fish’s body … They also have a pointed snout and four dangling, whisker-like organs, called barbells, located around the mouth. The lake sturgeon has shark-like features such as a cartilaginous skeleton”, adds Nature Canada.

One large biological study (Fortin et al., 1992), concluded that “Quebec is one of the rare regions of North America that still has relatively balanced and productive populations of lake sturgeon,” mostly clustered in the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers or in northern Quebec. Sturgeon have a long life cycle with relatively infrequent spawning, and they can live over 150 years.

So there is still hope for sturgeon here. But unlike deer, they need our help. That recovery could start with something as simple as a workable fish ladder.