# Deer whistle **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [November 8, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812 "2008-11-08T01:38:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kurtwm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@kurtwm](https://community.cartalk.com/u/kurtwm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/1 "2008-11-08T01:38:07Z")
I suppose they do if one doesn’t hit a deer and they don’t work if one does. But, is there any scientific evidence that they do work? ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/2 "2008-11-08T02:02:54Z")
Could you explain further? Who’s whistling at the deer, and where are they? ---
**Author:** ![Xebadaih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d07c76/32.png) [@Xebadaih](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Xebadaih)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/3 "2008-11-08T02:38:03Z")
Deer whistles don’t work, period, end of story. I know of countless occasions of people hitting deer with whistles on their cars, they don’t work. The deer can already hear your car approaching, they don’t need a whistle to tell them. The reason deer get hit is because they have no comprehension of how fast your car is coming at them, which is why they simply stand in the middle of the road waiting to be hit. Or in cases in which a deer runs in front of a car, again they can not comprehend the speed at which your car is traveling and consequently misjudge the safe time to cross the road. I lived in Michigan for 26 years so I consider myself to be an expert and a scientist when it comes to deer crossing roadways. ---
**Author:** ![Countrydriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Countrydriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Countrydriver)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/4 "2008-11-08T03:51:38Z")
They didn’t work for a deer that died about 8 years ago. I’m wondering if the whistles ATTRACT deer. ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/5 "2008-11-08T04:06:43Z")
In WI. we had extra hunts thet were susposed to control “mad deer disease” the locals thought the insurance companys were behind the extra hunts,the insurance companys wanted to have as many deer as possible killed. The only way I know to keep them off the road is to kill them, sounds blood thirsty but its true, rats with hoves. I never knew whitetails ran in large herds but on one opening day I found my self in the middle of a pack of at least 40, it was a incredible sight, we saw each other at the same time,one did not get away. ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/6 "2008-11-08T05:04:35Z")
I have inspected many cars that hit deer with whistles. Who knows how many were avoided. I think it’s $15 that could be better spent. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/7 "2008-11-08T05:05:48Z")
Sure they work! Only you got to get the deer to blow into them when they see you coming! Sooorry… Couldn’t resist. Tester ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/8 "2008-11-08T05:10:05Z")
Studies? Yes. Scientific? For a deer whistle? Some years ago the Sheriffs Office in Northern Minnesota installed them for testing. Didn’t do a thing. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/9 "2008-11-08T13:06:06Z")
They don’t work. However, if you spend the money on Windex, paper towels, and windshield wash it WILL have been well spent. Good visability combined with extra vigilance is the best protection you have against hitting deer. ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/10 "2008-11-08T13:23:31Z")
J. T. Where I live deer hop all over the roads and are hard to see at night. They have been described as “rats with hooves”. Here’s a link defining deer whistles. > **[Deer horn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_horn)** > > A deer horn, or deer whistle, is a whistle mounted on automobiles intended to help prevent collisions with deer. Air moving through the device produces sound (ultrasound in some models), intended to warn deer of a vehicle's approach. Deer are highly unpredictable, skittish animals whose normal reaction to an unfamiliar sound is to stop, look and listen to determine if they are being threatened.\[citation needed\] If the whistle gives them advance warning, they may freeze on the roadside, rather tha... ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/11 "2008-11-08T13:37:11Z")
Yeah, they do that up here in NH too. The earlier you see 'em is the better your chances. The cleaner windshield helps. There are people driving around that haven’t cleaned their windshields in years. Drives me nuts. Clean headlight lenses are also much more important than people realize. Light transmission can deteriorate badly when they’re dirty. I clean my windshield regularly, every morning during bug season and in bad weather, and I do my headlights and side windows regularly too. We have a moose problem up here in NH also. Hit a moose and you lose. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/12 "2008-11-08T22:49:37Z")
**_I_** describe them as 5-foot tall rats. I was giving kurtwm the chance to better describe his problem. The original post hardly stated his real intention. And we have more deer here in Central Maryland than anyone else in the entire universe. I live next to a state park (several thousand acres) where hunting is never allowed. The deer only get shot when the venture onto a county park, where there is limited hunting allowed. We have netting fences around all of our gardens to keep the ‘rats’ out. GRRR… ---
**Author:** ![rrhoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@rrhoff](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rrhoff)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/13 "2008-11-08T23:28:57Z")
they will not work . and you will incounter more deer this time of year the rut is on.when deer are in the rut they will go anywere to chase a doe.so if you see one deer their is a good chance their are a couple of more behind him. ---
**Author:** ![rexy44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@rexy44](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rexy44)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/14 "2008-11-09T00:59:24Z")
Been using them for over 25 years and I’m not quitin now. Maybe there is a Higher Power! Do I depend on them. NO. But… ---
**Author:** ![meaneyedcatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/meaneyedcatz/32/692_2.png) [@meaneyedcatz](https://community.cartalk.com/u/meaneyedcatz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/15 "2008-11-09T21:00:32Z")
If you have them and never hit a deer then they work. If you have them and have hit a deer then they do not work. ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/16 "2008-11-09T23:59:54Z")
The same problem occured at Brown County Park in Indiana. The environmentalists would not allow the deer herds to be thinned. Someone got the bright idea that Bears would scare away the deer. That didn’t work–the deer took the bears by 3 touchdowns. It was then suggested that colts might be brought in to frighten the deer. This might have worked a couple of years ago, but the colts that the environmentalists had in mind have become tired and would probably have the same luck with the deer that the bears had. ---
**Author:** ![Roadrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@Roadrunner](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Roadrunner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/17 "2008-11-10T02:20:55Z")
Many years ago when my father and I used to hunt deer (for food) he taught me to whistle very loud and sharply to make a deer stop and look at you. It gave you about 10 seconds to shoot. That, I do know works. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/18 "2008-11-11T01:49:39Z")
If one of the Colts was Peyton Manning, the deer would fawn all over him… ---
**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/deer-whistle/21812/19 "2011-02-06T17:35:08Z")
Never hit an elephant in my 43 years of driving. Works so well at repelling elephants that I ain’t never even seenone. Do these whistles even whistle? Seems like ram air would not do it.