Pelee Island mayor answers questions about demolition of pheasant farm

The farm where Pelee Island pheasants were raised for their annual hunt is being demolished, and not all residents are happy to see it go.

The island's pheasant hunt is a tradition that goes back almost 100 years and the farm has been there for around 80.

In the last few years, the birds have been brought in for the hunt, but for a long time, the pheasants were homegrown on the island south of Leamington, Ont.

Pelee Island Mayor Cathy Miller spoke with Windsor Morning Host Nav Nanwa, and answered questions about the history of the hunt and what's happening with the pheasant farm.

What is the history of the hunt?

The hunt started almost 93 years ago. It was due to an abundance of pheasants on the island and they were destroying crops, and it happened kind of naturally.

Over that amount of time, like any event that has lasted that long, the hunts have evolved. 

We went from raising pheasants on Pelee Island to bringing adult birds in.

It is a much-loved tradition that many generations of families take part in every year and look forward to, and we're proud to be able to sustain it for as long as we have.

What's happening at the farm now?

The pheasant farm may not be necessarily what you picture when you think of a farm. 

It's a large pen, so there would be posts and fencing and netting, and there would be little huts where the chicks are being raised. 

Those birds were in those pens and they were raised up, and then they were released during the hunt. 

Realistically, because we haven't raised pheasants on the island since before 2020, those pens are in disrepair, and they're starting to look a little bit messy and we need to clean that up.