Interesting, but sad

[LoboGunLeather]

About 11:00 this morning, driving in city traffic couple of miles from home, fairly busy boulevard, mixed residential and commercial area about 2 miles from the nearest open country or cover. 4-lane roadway, lots of side streets, people tend to drive like it's an interstate highway.

Two police vehicles, ambulance, dead mule deer doe (about 160 lbs or so), and a totaled subcompact sedan (occupants being attended to by ambulance crew).

All I can figure is that the deer came into town overnight, maybe enjoying someone's vegetable garden, then became disoriented and tried to run across the boulevard.

I'm right at the city limits with thousands of acres of open prairie across the fence. We see deer frequently, as well as coyotes, foxes, antelope, skunks, wild turkeys, plenty of rattlesnakes, and the occasional black bear. Major drought conditions and the critters need to survive the best ways they can.

I hate to see a critter reduced to road kill and people going to the hospital.

 

[Beemerguy53]

There are a lot of deer struck in my area every year, sometimes with deadly consequences for the humans involved.

A couple of years ago, a deer was struck by a car on a local highway posted at 55 mph. The collision sent the deer flying into the oncoming lane, where it crashed through the windshield of a work truck and killed a man sitting in the middle of the seat...

 

[NYlakesider]

I live in a rural area with much more deer than people. We get a lot of deer Vs vechicle collisions. Up here if a oncoming car/truck blinks its lights most times its not a LEO parked its deer by/in the road.

A couple weeks ago I had a Hollywood finish with the smallest fawn I ever saw. Up here if their is no traffic most of us seasoned people if possible tend to drive in the middle of the road. Gives you a little more space to react. Coming around this curve only a 100 yards from my driveway and this tiny fawn runs into the road and stops dead, I slam on the breaks. Great did not hit him, then it stood there for about 10 seconds and then took off fast in the direction it was going.

Just ready to hit the gas and its little sibling runs out across the road to go to the lake area. Great day no animals were hit!

Since then I have seen both of them a few times right behind my house, even seen Mama with them!

 

[Goldstar225]

In southern Arkansas we have an abundant deer population. In one year my mother hit and killed three with her truck. I let her know that the game and fish commission said she had filled all her tags for the year.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Around 2005 a Paramedic lived in my apartments told me od a fatal accident he'd been called out on the night before.

At 0200, a compact car on a rural road, front smashed, the dash crushed the driver, not a single skid mark! The driver had a look of total dismay.

The Volunteer FD called a neighboring department for a ladder truck. Then extended it over the ravine on the driver's left. Eventually in tall brush, they found the body of an Angus Steer. It the dark, he never saw the black steer until the impact!

Ivan

 

[Breakaway500]

I use to install a lot of these on customers cars. They work for both domestic and 'wild' animals. They really do work..unless the animal is deaf or stoopid.
They make a modern version that's available for less than $20. No batteries..no electronics..and work forever,unless damaged by impact etc. You can mount them under the car/truck..they just need to be in the air stream.

First hand experience: I come home late from Watkins Glen along a connector highway that always had deer standing around.Sometimes I lose count of how many I see,including carcasses. I put a set of these on my truck....no more deer or when I saw them they are already scattering. Cheap insurance.

Now if only they scared people out of the way!!

 

[MRB1]

We have our share of deer, but feral hogs are now the biggest problem. A small hog can total a car, a 300 lb hog is like hitting a brick wall. A few people have died as a result.

 

[NYlakesider]

I use to install a lot of these on customers cars. They work for both domestic and 'wild' animals. They really do work..unless the animal is deaf or stoopid.
They make a modern version that's available for less than $20. No batteries..no electronics..and work forever,unless damaged by impact etc. You can mount them under the car/truck..they just need to be in the air stream.

First hand experience: I come home late from Watkins Glen along a connector highway that always had deer standing around.Sometimes I lose count of how many I see,including carcasses. I put a set of these on my truck....no more deer or when I saw them they are already scattering. Cheap insurance.

Now if only they scared people out of the way!!

Your experiences are different that mine. I have seen many vechicles with all sorts of deer avoidance devices and the consensus of opinion the only thing they do is make money for the manufacture. One fellow up here has tried 4 different ones!

Living in the mountains we have very curved, hilly roads and in some places the tree line is only 5' or so from the road. When things happen they happen fast!

 

[30-30remchester]

When I was 14 years old, I got my first elk with a Remington model 30 Express in 30/06. My 16-year-old daughter got her first elk with a 1984 Jeep Cherokee. Same results, dead elk. Mine cost me 29 cents. Her's cost her over $5,000. I win.

 

[Krogen]

They hang out in the wildlife refuge I call a gun club. Yesterday we had a blacktail buck park himself in front of a 200 m target. It was lunchtime and he was munching away. Not afraid of bullets or people, we had to go out and yell at him to get him to move. They do seem to respect cars as it's rare to see venison pancakes on the roads. Best to slow down when they appear; they'll jump in front of you faster than you can react.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

"Deer Whistles" have to be mounted in a place where the airflow is undisturbed at a normal driving velocity! I see smashed cars with Deer Whistles mounter in placed that look good to the stylish, but don't work at velocity!

You can tell if your whistles are working, by driving on a country road in the evening. If they work, the grazing deer will stop eating, look up, and follow your car with their eyes!

Fauns just seem to ignore any common sense! My wife has been run into by fauns while stopped at stoplight, stopped on rural roads and parked in our yard (on the farm!)

Ivan

 

[venomballistics]

Your experiences are different that mine. I have seen many vechicles with all sorts of deer avoidance devices and the consensus of opinion the only thing they do is make money for the manufacture. One fellow up here has tried 4 different ones!

Living in the mountains we have very curved, hilly roads and in some places the tree line is only 5' or so from the road. When things happen they happen fast!

Like anything else, Unless the critter can directly associate the sound generated with a reoccurring unpleasant experience, they will eventually grow accustomed to it and disregard it like an overplayed song on the radio.
I have a set on a car I got used ... I see absolutely no effect upon animal behavior

 

[Rustyt1953]

Years ago there was an incident at Emily Dickenson College in Wounded Deer, MA where a Fawn died in a kiln explosion.

PS: Like mentioned above feral hogs are encroaching into urban areas here.

 

[jbtrucker]

When I hauled lumber several years ago one of the drivers liked to drive nights . He hit four deer within just a few weeks causing grill and bumper damage , he would get mad when I called him Deer Slayer . I had whistles on a truck don't know if they worked , some deer run or look when I hit the horn others ignore it

 

[steelslaver]

You don't have to drive very far to see a road kill deer around here. It does make the predators happy especially the eagles. You can legally load them up and take them home now though.

I believe Montana is #2 for likely hood of such a collision. average is 1 in 48 years of driving. I have nailed 3 and have managed to avoid a bunch

West Virginia #1 1in 38 years

PA #3 1in 52

They say that it mostly it has to do with percentage of people living in rural areas.

The worst time of day is morning and evening and worst time of year around here is mid Nov during the rut.

General consensus around here is the deer whistle things are worthless. However you do see lots of big grill guards. I even saw a Lincoln with one the other day.

 

[mtgianni]

The road south of me averages one a day for the next 50 miles. When I worked I traveled the State from Red Lodge to Harlem and West from Kalispell to Hamilton. I got ten in a ten year stretch.

 

[H Richard]

Here in West Central IL there are too many deer, substantiated by too many body shops. Certain times of the year there may be multiple deer/car incidents every day in the fall. I know someone that had hit three deer over about 12 years, and put an additional Deer Whistle on his car every time. Not many have any reliance on them any more.

 

[Breakaway500]

It's kind of like Mice. Once they hear the SNAP and realize Buford is dead...they avoid the snap machines. You have to get a bit more..creative with the elders.
Same with road animals....when they start to associate the whistle with fast moving vehicles..that kill friends...they clear out.
I'm not saying the whistles work miracles....however, I know the whistles are better than nuffin...especially on the old..wise BIG animals. Occasionally I see a young ignorant straggler not following the heard.

 

[safearm]

I was stationed at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, TX. Largest city that doesn't have interstate access, although it does have a loop around it. To get anywhere from San Angelo, you have to travel on two-lane roads "where the deer and antelope play." Every car dealer had a display of available grill guards/rails for sale to be mounted on the front of the vehicle you were buying from them. I was lucky, I never needed them while I was there, but I know a lot of folks that did.

 

[MRB1]

We have a lot of cattle grazing on the sides of the road and the locals all know how unpredictable they are. Rule of thumb, if the animal looks up, get ready - it'll likely dart in front of the vehicle.