Annual General Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the fourth Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in Kingston, Ontario


Present: Don Murphy, President, Jane McDonald, Treasurer, Allan Park, Head Deer Keeper, Wendy Workman, Secretary, Lorraine Alderman, Aida Sulcs, Annie Wilcox, Board Members

The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm. The Agenda for this meeting was approved as well as the minutes of the 2010 Annual General Meeting held in February 2010.

The President welcomed all present and gave a brief summary of the activities of this challenging year in which we lost two deer, Gulliver (August 2010) and George (February 2011). We have learned a great deal from these losses. With help from volunteers, we completed the isolation paddock (approx 3/4 acre) in the Fall and put it to good use with the rehabilitative care of E Gee who continues to require special care due to his underweight status. He especially thanked Allan Park for his dedication and compassionate care of the herd and recognized the contribution of Jane McDonald, too. He made several suggestions for future planning detailed below.

Copies of the financial statements for the period January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 were distributed to those present by the Treasurer, reviewed and accepted. Generally income and expenses were half of those in 2009 showing that some fundraising efforts need to be made in 2011 in order to meet the increasing costs caused by the aging of the deer (increased nutrition, more shelter from cold, higher vet bills).

The Head Deer Keeper, Allan Park, thanked the board members and noted the contributions of Jane McDonald, Don Murphy, Wendy Workman throughout the year as well as volunteers, Susie Rance, Chris Grooms, Paul Nixon and Drew Sauve in the creation of the isolation paddock and Emerald Murphy for hay and equipment, Bob and Norma for donating hay. He also noted the loss of our oldest volunteer, 93 year old Bruce Burt, who died in May 2010. He was a regular visitor and donated over 130 bales of hay each year. He recounted the circumstances  of and lessons learned from the deaths of Gulliver and George. The coldest winter in many years, depth of snow and aging presented the deer and their keepers with extraordinary challenges. He thanked Wendy and Don for their care of Mike in early December when he developed a large abscess on the throat and required anti-biotic meds that successfully treated the problem.  Dr. Brian Willows visited the herd at that time and noted the general good health of the herd. We treated E Gee the same anti-biotics when he developed pneumonia in mid-January 2011. Allan also described the winter feeding program established following the death of George and opening the barn to provide additional shelter. The herd hierarchy is shifting with Moki, youngest and strongest, establishing himself as leader trying to replace Max without his gentleness or intelligence. The more mean-spirited Moki is keeping the others from the lean-to shelter and hay. Deer keeping in the upcoming year will involve continuing the daily enriched diet (corn, oats, barley, dairy ration, 600g total) until the pasture is established. Then feeding enriched diet 2 or 3 days per week until post-rut when daily enrichment will resume. The herd will be de-wormed at the end of April and thereafter every six months following advice from our vet, Dr Brian Willows. One positive note has been how well the herd has taken to the daily feeding procedures (using former lick plastic bowls) with minimal fighting or jostling. We are able to administer de-worming meds, probiotics via this feeding and be reasonably assured that each buck receives the recommended dosage.

Board of Directors and Officers, 2011. The group welcomed Annie Wilcox a new board member replacing Monique Cloutier who had informed the Treasurer via email that of her resignation. Everyone expressed gratitude to Monique for her service to the Reserve and Jane agreed to convey these thoughts to her on our behalf. Annie has been a regular visitor, contributor and friend of the Fallow Deer Reserve since the days at Scotland Road. All offices were declared vacant. The following were nominated to serve as officers in 2011:President: Don Murphy, Secretary: Wendy Workman, Treasurer: Jane McDonald
The above nominations were approved by unanimous vote.

Future plans, considerations:

Veterinary care: As above, treating the herd with SafeGuard every six months. The medication has been purchased this year and should last for the next 7 years!

Shelter: Plans will depend on how much money we can raise. It was generally agreed that if funding is low, nutrition should trump any building projects this year. Nonetheless the changing hierarchy and the aging of the deer make improving shelter from extreme cold  essential. A system of modular units to house one or two deer (in stalls) approximately 12-16 feet long was envisaged and involving high school students (Ernestown, Bruce Todd, community service) in the design and construction would be ideal. Don agreed to check into this. Offsite manufacture (Don and Wendy’s house?) would be best as there is no electricity at the Reserve and it would be safer for the volunteers to be doing most of this building outside the enclosure. Other plans could involve creating more openings in the barn or stable, filling entrances/exits with rock to make more level and safe.
Snow removal: Explore the possibility of plowing some tracks inside the enclosure to allow deer to use more of the available space in winter. Because the deers’ metabolism does slow down in winter, Allan Park was unsure that the deer would move too far away from their food source (i.e. the barn) in the cold weather by choice but this can certainly happen if they lose a challenge.

Additional feeding station: Explore the possibility of a more permanent feeding station at eastern side of the Reserve with a small building outside the fence to hold hay and grain rations. This safe feeding place away from the barn could be used by an injured buck hiding in the woods when isolation paddock is already occupied.

Water: Warm water system for isolation area needed, possibly solar. Needs to provide about a dog’s dish amount of water for one deer (approx 1 liter per day).

Sponsorship Program: Needs to be revamped. Donors should be encouraged to donate to the well-being of the entire herd rather than one specific deer as we deal with the likelihood of death or disease as the deer age.

Fundraising: It was agreed that we need to increase our efforts in this area as we have less antlers to sell and calendars sales are down, too.  Create a wish list (hay, whole corn, oats, barley, salt licks) and write to those who have sponsored or donated in the past talking about the change in needs/circumstances. Jane agreed to do this and see about changing the website to reflect this shift of emphasis. Wendy Workman is considering offering a “day in the country” fundraising event as she did successfully in 2009 involving lunch, Reserve tour, workshops. Annie suggested skill-building workshops such as canning, medicinal herbs, etc.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm.