Dogs hired as deer-chasers in national park

A pack of sheep dogs is running aggressive deer out of a small Alberta community nestled in a national park.

Brazen mule deer are becoming a problem in the town site in Waterton Lakes National Park, especially in the spring.

"I know this may sound funny, but when we go outside and when we go around corners we're always looking," said local restaurant owner Debbie West.

Recently the deer in the park have stalked and chased people, she said.

"It is a frightening thing. I have been chased myself. And I can tell you that even though they look like they are a docile animal, when they are aggressive, it can be scary."

The abundance of wildlife is one of the reasons thousands of tourists visit the national park each year. But mule deer, especially when they are fawning, can be aggressive, said Parks Canada's Dennis Madsen, resource conservation manager.

The deer have become too comfortable with the people in the park, he said.

"They will actually try to attack dogs, like run up to a dog and be very aggressive with the dog, perhaps strike at it with their front hooves and stuff, which of course, if you have your dog on a leash is quite concerning for people."

Dogs love the job

Last year, parks staff had to euthanize some deer that were becoming too aggressive. This year, the park has hired Medicine Hat area dog handler Chris Jobe and her crew of six border collies to get the problem under control.

Jobe and her dogs have been out every morning for a week chasing the deer out of town. 

"Our main goal is to have them fawn out of town," she said. "And get them back to being normal."

Her dogs love the job, she said. "It's fun, yeah. They love it and I love it."

Her crew will soon have Waterton's deer problem under control and will wrap up the job later this month, she said. 

"When I first got here I could walk around with my dogs and haze them out of town, but now they see me and the border collies come and they are really reacting to us."

Parks Canada plans to hire dogs to run mule deer out of town every spring for three years.