The Rural Voice, 2001-06, Page 18BATFLING BAMBI
The booming deer population has led to munching on
tender apple trees to survive harsh winters, putting the
future of some Georgian Bay apple growers in peril
By Roberta Avery
It was a tough winter for trees as wildlife tried to
survive a long, hard winter by nibbling at the
bark of trees (above damage is from rabbits).
Jts Bambi versus apple growers in
the Meaford area and orchard
owners don't stand a chance when
herds of hungry white -tail deer start
browsing their way through their
farms.
While complaints about damaged
trees are coming in from several hot
spots across the province
including the London area and the
Lake. Huron shoreline, the hardest hit
14 THE RURAL VOICE
grower'is Brian Comly whose 32-
hectre orchard near Meaford 40
kilometres west of Collingwood has
been "devastated," said provincial
apple specialist Ken Wilson.
"His orchard is ruined, there is no
potential for any crop this year, it's
the most extreme damage I've ever
seen," said Wilson who has worked
in the apple industry for 30.years.
A mild spell after the winter's
extreme cold weather drove the deer
out of the bush in search of food and
now they have eaten their way
through the new fruit buds on all of
Comly's 12,000 trees, they are
beginning to destroy the crop in
neighbouring farms.
"They're moving out to
surrounding farms and significant
damage is starting to appear," said
Wilson.
In a normal year, the 150 orchards
located between Collingwood and
Owen Sound produce more than
three million bushels of apples. This
represents about 25 per cent of the
province's apples. making the region
Ontario's largest apple growing area
by volume, said Wilson.
While it's mainly Comly's
neighbours that are coming under
deer attack, a few growers 25
kilometres to the southeast in the
Beaver Valley are also reporting deer
chewing their trees, said Wilson.
It doesn't help that many residents
think the deer are cute and encourage
them out of the bush by feeding
them, said Wilson.
"I understand that people love to
see them, but what they don't realize
is that deer can ravage orchards,"
said Wilson.
The deer population flourished in
the area after the cancellation of the
annual deer hunt at the Canadian
Forces Area Training Centre 10
kilometres northwest of Meaford
after a fatal accident left a hunter
dead in 1979, said provincial natural
resources biologist Andy McKee.
Though reinstated in recent
years, the deer hunt on the
training centre, which is close
to Comly's orchard, only makes a
small dent in the deer population.
Add to that a series of mild winters
that have led to the deer breeding
more profusely and a general decline
in deer hunting in the region and the
result is a lot of hungry deer.
"I feel sorry for the growers. I
wish there was a magic wand that I
could wave to solve this," said
McKee.
For Comly, 48, whose family has
owned the orchard since 1972, the
loss of a crop worth about $160,000
at the farm gate has been devastating.
"I've got mortgages and loans to
pay and I just don't know which way
to turn," he said.
McKee points out that Comly
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