Posted on 11/18/2004 7:11:21 AM PST by Dan from Michigan
I don't have deer around my house but in some parts of Colorado it really is a problem. I was driving to Mesa Verde one day and I had to just stop the car. Mulies were all over the road, maybe 50 or so.
It was interesting to watch but it added about 20 minutes to my drive.
We were teasing our daughter about being some kind of Grizzly Adams who had deer following her. But it can be quite unnerving. I think that there is some kind of whistle device you can put on your wheels to keep them away?
That statistic is for the entire U.S. I'm doing my part to thin Ohio's deer. I have taken two with the bow and have four more urban tags to go...
I almost hit one at 40 m.p.h last night.
If you go driving in a rural area at night during the rutting season, you WILL see deer, sometimes in large numbers. Where I grew up in central Virginia, they were everywhere. Lots of people put "deer whistlers" on their bumpers, those little things you can buy that were supposed to generate an ultrasonic sound that would startle deer and make them run. I also saw a fair number of cars equipped with deer whistlers that had hit deer, so maybe they didn't work too well.
It's a pretty serious problem in areas with a large deer population.
}:-)4
While manufacturers contend deer can hear the whistle up to a quarter mile away, no published research verifies the device's effectiveness. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety presented evidence refuting claims promoting the whistles:
Georgia's Game and Fish Department, for example, found that in hundreds of observations from vehicles equipped with deer whistles, deer didn't respond. Whistles on vehicles going 25-30 mph produced no ultrasonic sound, although some ultrasonic and lower frequencies were produced when the whistles were blown by mouth. According to wildlife biologists at the University of Georgia, neither deer nor humans can hear ultrasonic sound. Whistles blown by mouth near captive deer produce no response.
A University of Wisconsin study found that three types of whistle did produce low-pitched and ultrasonic sounds at speeds of 30 to 70 miles per hour; however, researchers were unable to verify that deer responded to the sounds, even at distances well below the distances from which manufacturers claim the whistles are heard. Moreover, deer would only be able to hear the whistles if there were a straight shot between the deer and the whistle. If curves, trees, or other obstacles came between the deer and the whistle, the device would be ineffective.
According to an article called "Blowing the Whistle on Deer Scare Devices" in the Mid-February 1993 Farm Journal, the Ohio State Police installed deer whistles on their patrol vehicles; however, they reported finding no significant decrease in collisions between patrol cars and deer. The same article indicated that a panel of the World Society for the Protection of Animals could find no data proving "that such a device can actually stop an animal crossing the road, which is the main purpose of the device." Finally, Washington State University researcher Leonard Askham felt the evidence tended to favor a conclusion that deer whistles do not work. "Even if the devices were effective," Askham warned, "they would soon become clogged with insects and dirt and stop working."
The New York Times NATIONAL described a different, creative way to use sound to frighten deer and other animals off the road and out of the path of oncoming vehicles. The article explained:
Before he discovered deer whistles, a supervisor for an Arkansas utility came up with his own plan to scare deer off dark country roads. He taped the barking of his neighbors' dogs, rigged an amplified speaker to the front of his truck and then broadcast the tape as he cruised down highways. But he abandoned the scheme, amid concern that the barking was not only scaring deer, but awakening residents of southern Arkansas.
ok, I aint touching that one.
Here in Eastern Ky, they are so thick, it's nothing to look out my kitchen window and see several meandering around my back yard, and we live close to a highway. Let's put it this way, I don't know many people who haven't had their car or truck damaged by one of these critters.
Just dreaming...
Deadly Media: Fatal crashes caused by Journalists at all-time high
11/18/2004, 12:05 a.m. ET
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cars and motorcycles crash into Journalists more than 4,000 times a day, and it's taking an increasingly deadly toll — on people.
Last year a record 210 motorists were killed in collisions with Journalists, mostly On Air Reporters. That was 40 more than the previous year and more than twice the number in 1993, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Accidents are most likely to happen in November, the institute said, because it is TV Sweeps season, which cause the Anchorss to be on the move. Crashes are most likely to occur during evening or nighttime, often on rural roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher.
"The Journalists population is growing and there are more vehicles on the road every year," Allan Williams, the institute's chief scientist, said Wednesday. "There's just a lot more chance for interaction with Reporters on the roads."
On Air Anchors are involved in about 75 percent of fatal animal-crash accidents. In all, there were 1.5 million deer crashes last year, injuring 13,713 people and causing $1.1 billion in vehicle damage, the institute said.
The study found most Journalists crashes involved one vehicle and deaths usually were caused when the vehicle left the road or a motorcyclist fell off the bike. In relatively few cases, people were killed when the Anchors crashed through the windshield.
Other Journalists that cause crashes include cameramen, sound men and gaffers, though none is responsible for a significant number. Line Prodcers also cause a small percentage of crashes, particularly in Western states.
Such Media-involved fatal crashes have been rising since the mid-1990s, according to federal data analyzed by the institute. Between 1993 and 1997, an average of 119 fatal crashes occurred each year. Between 1998 and 2002, the figure rose to 155.
The institute said special signs during Sweeps periods and signs that activate when Journalists are near roadways have shown promise in reducing crashes. Drivers also should be alert and slow down in the evenings, Williams said.
But even with precautions some crashes are unavoidable.
"Sometimes Anchors just appear in the roadway and there's not much chance to react," Williams said.
Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable, especially when the rider fails to wear a helmet. In the institute's analysis of fatal crashes in nine states, 65 percent of the 60 motorcyclists and all-terrain vehicle riders killed weren't wearing helmets.
"If a Journalists hits a motorcycle, the motorcyclist can go off the bike pretty easily," Williams said.
Of the nine states studied, only Georgia, Missouri and North Carolina require helmets for all riders. Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin require helmets for teenagers, but not adults, and Colorado doesn't require helmets.
The same study found 60 percent of the 93 vehicle occupants killed in Journalists crashes weren't wearing seat belts.
I've hit a deer on my motorcycle. It's not something I want to repeat. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet, or I would have been more badly injured. The impact of my head hitting the pavement took a big chunk out of the helmet. Without the helmet taking the impact, I'd have been toast. As it was, I needed two surgeries to get my shoulder back together. I hate deer!!!!
There was a small chevy nova that was in pretty bad shape and there was a quantity of blood on the windshield so I feared the worst, but the vehicle was empty, so I made my way to where the crowd was several yards from the vehicle.
Luckily, the driver of the chevy and her kids were there and unhurt, and like the rest of the crowd was staring at the female deer that she had hit. The deer had smashed into the windshield and was the source of the blood, and although in real bad shape was still alive.
One of the bystanders had called the police/rescue but something had to be done for the deer. Someone asked if anyone had a gun that could be used to put it down, since I carry I did what needed to be done.
Been out of the army for a long time, saw some stuff when I was in, and some stuff since; but putting that deer down was one of the hardest things I have to do in a long, long, time.
Big damn brown eyes.
Of course, some of us actually know how to drive and can swerve or take other evasive action without losing control and running into something. If it's safe to swerve around a critter to avoid killing it, I will, if not, I won't.
I've had a deer hit me while riding. It came up off the side of the road and before I could react it ran into the side of my bike, leaving a spittle mark on the side panel. Didn't knock me down or anything, and after it took a tumble it got back up and ran off, presumably not much worse for wear. Lucky for both of us!
BTTT!!!!!!
The moose bit my possum?
I noted that no animals were killed while wearing seatbelts. Let's mandate seatbelts for animals!
I laughed when you said elephant, but it could happen. Some animal-rights idiot cut down the fencing at an elephant reserve here locally, and one of the elephants was missing for a couple days. Dumba$$ - yeah, turn the animal loose from the environment it's familiar with - that'll be doing it a favor when it gets run over by an 18-wheeler.
Whistles don't work, and besides, I can hear them and they annoy the heck out of me (yes, I am part dog)
I am helping reduce the problem here by giving some friends permission to sit on my front porch and take a few.
I'm suprised they didn't try to blame this on those wacky SUV's.
You may need to....well, I'd appreciate it if you could get around to your "about" page....
Around here, wife & kids call me the 'dog-god'. We have 4 Border Collies. I think they're working on a project in the shed right now, then they'll get around to re-wiring my entertainment center.
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