Dear Editor:

Sticks and stones will break a deers bones and faulty claims of hazing wont do justice for her. Did you know that a well-placed stone that measures about five to six centimetres wide by four centimetres long the size described by Mr. Kruger to a mule deers skull by a normal human male would not kill her, but more than likely would stun her. If the claims that one misguided stone happened to hit just right, it would have to be thrown at least at a rate of 50 mph, and throwing that hard tells you that there was not intent to just scare the doe.

What would have happened if a small child, who is like a deer in the same sense that they do not understand trespassing, equally as innocent, and not responsible for their action, would have stumbled into that backyard?Would the crew have thrown stones at that child? Chances are no, at least I would hope not!As stated before, that one rock would have to have been thrown hard and for someone to do that shows a lack of compassion and sound judgment, not someone I want working with power tools and heavy equipment in my yard. Then again, with us Americans, we tend not to overlook crimes against nature and innocent creatures being brutalized and bludgeoned to death.I find it even worse since it was a mother and now has orphaned fawns left to roam, possibly meeting the same fate.

I understand there is a deer issue in the area that has been met with overall crudeness, but it seems that with some sound thought a humane solution can be found?A call to a local deer rescue group, the conservation office, or the Deer Protection Society of Invermere that was mentioned in the article, sounds like an amazing first step instead of taking matters into your own hands, or putting stones in your glorified gardeners hands. I have shared this story with several people where I live in Iowa. They are all shocked by the lack of penalties or remorse for their actions. Though large herds of deer can do much harm to the neighbourhood, the injury to the morals of the people who watch innocence met with brutality is more than the loss of crops or shrubbery. So Invermere, where do your morals lie?

Theresa Caligiuri

Iowa, USA