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Bison destroy family garden in Liard

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, August 12, 2010

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Because of the appetite of a small herd of bison, one Fort Liard family will be making do without fresh garden produce this winter.

In the spring, Norman Sassie planted a garden behind his house in the new subdivision on the outskirts of Fort Liard. The 20 metre square plot included potatoes, lettuce, peas, carrots and beets.

NNSL photo/graphic

Instead of eating grass, a group of six bison got through the fence around Norman Sassie's garden in Fort Liard and destroyed his harvest. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The harvest from the garden was going to help Sassie's family, which includes two young children, reduce their grocery bills over the fall and winter so they could save for fuel and rent payments. All this changed in late July when six bison got through the orange fencing around the garden at night.

"Everything kicked up and everything eaten," is how Sassie describes the damage.

"They ruined everything."

Sassie said he's very upset by what the bison did to his garden. He's even more upset by the response he's gotten to the damage.

After the bison destroyed the plot, Sassie called Floyd Bertrand, a renewable resources officer with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, about compensation or action against the bison.

"They won't do a thing about it," Sassie said.

"They certainly aren't going to pay me for the food I lost for the winter."

Sassie argued the government should pay compensation for the lost produce because they reintroduced bison to the Fort Liard area.

"They're a nuisance and no one really wanted them around in the first place," he said.

"For me they make excuses why they can't get rid of them."

Sassie did note that when bison are in his yard, Bertrand comes over and shoots bear bangers to move them away. The animals, however, only seem to run about 20 meters before stopping, he said.

In order to discourage bison from coming into the community Sassie thinks that one animal should be shot during every incursion. They are smart animals so they would soon learn, he said.

This summer has actually been fairly quiet in terms of bison complaints, said Bertrand, who's been receiving approximately one bison-related call a month. The frequency only increased in the last week because of the small herd that keeps returning to Sassie's neighborhood and a larger herd of 42 that arrived on the north end of the community on Aug. 9.

Bertrand believes the number of problems have decreased because of a culling that was done approximately two years ago. A number of problem bulls were identified and destroyed and things have been better since then, he said.

Bertrand said he doesn't want to see the situation return to the point where culling is necessary again so he takes every opportunity to herd bison out of the hamlet. Bertrand does his own patrols and also responds to calls from residents.

Using bear bangers and projectiles that whistle Bertrand gets the herd moving in the right direction and follows them on foot or with an ATV or truck. After a bear banger is set off all of the animals run a distance at a slow pace before slowing down and continuing walking.

Bertrand said he hasn't seen any evidence that the animals have become desensitized to the methods.

Sometimes bison do cause damage and the issue of compensation has been raised before in the community, he said. Because bison are wild animals, the department doesn't provide any sort of compensation.

There are measures that residents can take to keep bison away from certain areas. Orange plastic snow fences like the one Sassie had seem to work but they have to be supported by enough poles, said Bertrand.

Orange flagging tape is a particularly effective low cost measure. A line of tape between poles with shorter tape pieces hanging down to flutter in the wind seems to deter bison, he said.

Bertrand wants to remind residents that when he is herding bison they should stay out of the way and refrain from coming in their vehicles to watch.

Sometimes curious onlookers stop their vehicles right in the herd's path, causing the animals to panic and scatter.

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