My nephew hit a deer last night in Kansas with his semi. Did a pretty good job on the front end. I just keep saying “yeah, I know they don’t work but you have to do something”. Yeah sure careful driving but headlights don’t help during the day seeing the other side of a hill. Yes I’m careful when I swerve to not lose control but the one I hit with my Riviera at night was in an area where there was railings on both sides of the road. No way to avoid the dang critter. Otherwise its been more of a glancing blow, but that one was dead on-hood, fender, headlight, grill, mirror, etc. I loved that car though. Never even spilled my coffee.
When you are travelling at a normal or slower then normal speed and a deer slams into your rear quarter panel ,I call that kamikaze,the best defense around is drive about 30 mph(on back roads and have an alert passenger (it seems the passengers can see stuff standing along the road quicker then the driver,I have had more then one kamikaze deer crash(sometimes there is no way to avoid the things ) try this the next time you see a squirrel in the road ,toot the horn the little guy will move in every direction at once as much as I detest hitting small creatures dont wreck trying to miss them ,most of the time you will clear them . .I usually have no trouble avoiding snakes ,terrapins,possums and the like (some people try to run them over and will run on the shoulder of the road to hit a groundhog.I dont like to drive on rainy nights because of the small creatures in the roads that are impossible to miss (I love critters -my critter peace treaty is still in effect )
Another thought on the deer whistle ,if they were that effective the insurance companys would send them to clients ,mass produced these things cant be that expensive (I call placebo )
“the best defense around is drive about 30 mph on back roads and have an alert passenger.”
Things may be very different in your neck of the woods, but most of the back roads in my area have a speed limit of 45 mph, and even if I am traveling at ~50 mph, there are frequently people who decide that it is appropriate to drive only a few feet behind my rear bumper of the car. I should note that these roads usually have no shoulder, tend to be fairly narrow–with only one lane in each direction–and are solidly no-passing zones.
If someone was to try driving at around 30 mph on the roads near me, I think that the resulting road rage from other drivers would only serve to put them in danger of revenge from lunk-headed motorists–in addition to the dangers presented by dumb deer.
We live in deer country. It’s mountainous and there are many vineyards and farms locally so the deer are well fed and not in the mood to find greener pastures. The local road that comes into town has 10 miles running through the valley designated as “deer alley”. The local sheriffs pick up three to five deer-car collisions during peak season (hunting season and mating season).
The speed limit on all roads around here, except in town, is 55 mph. The locals all drive 45 to 50 and the tourists all drive 60 to 70. Unless you drive 30 mph you cannot avoid all of the deer in the area at dawn, dusk and nighttime. Driving at 30 is not a practical reality here because the distances between towns and destinations is so great that it would take hours to get where you are going.
Deer are a problem here also. While at a crawl one night ((less than 10 MPH) a large doe committed suicide against the passenger side door of my car. The wife who was the passenger went pretty hysterical over that one when she saw a bloodied doe’s head lingering against the glass for a few seconds. Ended up breaking the side mirror off and denting both right side doors.
About a year or so ago I came home one night about 11 o’clock and almost hit one as I turned into my driveway.
In another case my wife was complaining about killing some cats if they did not stay out of her potted plants on the porch. I came out of the house one evening at sunset and found the problem was not cats at all. It was a medium sized doe. Surprisingly the deer did not even run and I slowly worked my way over to pet it. The deer took right to that and within 10 minutes half a dozen neighborhood kids came over to join in spoiling it rotten.
Eventually it wandered off; only to resurface the next night at a kid’s summer league baseball game. It became a nuisance by continually clogging the first base path. I’d nudge it off the field and 10 minutes later it would be back holding up the works again.
Maybe deer see so many people and cars it becomes engrained in them that they are not going to suffer any harm.
Whatever sense birds have about cars, deer clearly do not have. Birds are very hard to hit, especially if they see you. Deer are truly like big, stupid squirrels (as a previous poster mentioned). The just run into you, in front of you, or just stand in the road thinking you won’t notice them.
“Maybe deer see so many people and cars it becomes engrained in them that they are not going to suffer any harm.”
That is a possibility!
My brother lives in a huge gated community in Pennsylvania that is adjacent to a state forest.
Hunting is permitted in the state forest, but it is forbidden within his community.
It seems that the smarter deer simply migrate from that state forest to his community, where they seem to be very much at home.
It is not unusual to see groups of deer resting in the shade on people’s property adjacent to the roads, but what I find really fascinating is that the resident deer in his community usually look in both directions before crossing the road, and will almost always hesitate if they see a car coming.
Maybe they’re not so dumb after all…
Someone in the insurance business might think that deer whistles might work once in a while. But if they sent out free ones or even recommended them and someone hits a deer here comes a lawsuit.
Around Here People Refer To Deer As “Rats With Hooves” .
They Are Protected Too Much And Are A Real Nuisance.
CSA
Evolution is slow, but perhaps we will eventually have deer that know to stay away from cars and highways.
I refer to deer as five foot tall rats.
Deer are not scared of anything. In my state, the deer were destroying the foliage in a state park. The park rangers wanted to allow hunters come in and selectively thin the herd. The animal rights groups threw a fit and proposed bringing in bears to scare the deer. It didn’t work. The deer took the bears by three touchdowns.
Well VDC its like this ,the speed limits on the unsafe overgrown no shoulder roads around here are 55 mph(i asked the state trooper) and it takes a numbskull to run that fast ,when people crackup they usually do in a spectacular fashion (they tend to slow down then ),when going to work in the morning I usually run about 35 mph (if you tried to run 60 there would be two or so on your bumper in a mile or so )so I just slow em down till I come to a wide spot and pullover and let them by,When I bring the old RD 685 up this road few people challenge me for my side of the (the heavy 10 inch channel iron for the snowplow would probably give better then it got )
People need to get in the habit of not leaving the house 10 minutes late and trying to arrive at the job or appointment on time,in the past year or sure things have started to cascade around here,with the Proletariat bitching about a proposed 42 inch natural gas pipeline and not saying a word about the 60 extra "luxury " cottages being constructed next spring which will have a noticable impact on traffic flow and crashes around here.
The problem Folks is to many people and especially the ones that dont give a hoot about the natives .
@Bill Russell .I have heard that eventually deer will learn to mostly avoid the highways ,dont know if it is due to the"Hundereth monkey"effect or whatever ,but has been noticed in other areas with certain species of animals
So Much Salt Is Dumped On The Roads Around Here That When Spring Rolls Around And The Snow Begins To Melt That The Deer Take Up Residence On The Shoulders Of The Roads To Lick Salt Off The Asphalt!
I was returning home once during this annual event (hauling a new side-by-side refrigerator in my Caravan) from 4 hours away and was at first startled by all the deer (scores/mile) along the edges of the interstate. I was travelling slowly until after many miles I discovered they were staying put. I then travelled normal speed, feet from the rats with hooves, hoping that nothing spooked them.
CSA
Someone mentioned sonic rodent repellers above. The problem is power. The little plastic ones from hardware stores aren’t worth taking home as a free gift.
Steren sells 4 inch cubes that look like loud speakers, in Mexico and in the USA as well. Even they have power problems. Using their data I would need 3 for my 2,850 square foot house. I needed 8 before my rodent and pest problem dramatically reduced.
They dramatically reduce scorpion presence and also mice and rats. They actually kill lizards. But, they do not effect spiders, alas.
I have recommended them when people complain about rats in their garages eating their car wiring.
But when someone offers a good solution to drastically reducing the problem of automobile/deer collisions no one pays any attention
Rod Knox: The big problem is getting the deer to only cross at the signs.
Was that woman serious . . . ?!
db4690: I read somewhere it was a joke although there actually are people that dumb.