Dangerous Deer

Although there are many animals that seem dangerous and may scare people, it is apparent that deer are reported to the cause of more harm to humans than any other animal.  The New York Times published a report in efforts to warn people of the dangers of deer.  Deer are very peaceful creatures and rarely attack humans; however, they cause fatalities due to car collisions.  The New York Times states that State Farm Insurance estimates that deer collisions over the past two years reached 2.3 million.  The New York Times also quotes Billy Higginbotham, a wildlife specialist at Texas A&M University, in saying that “the bucks throw caution to the wind as they chase does during the breeding season.”  The mating season for deer, known as the rut, occurs each year from October to December.  Aside from the dangers to all drivers, this also hurts the population of deer in regard to wildlife management.  Wildlife management organizations allow restrictions on the number of deer that can be taken by hunters each year in order to conserve their population; therefore, when deer are killed by accident it does force the laws to restrict the hunters further to make up for the deer lost by car collisions.  The New York Times article written by Erik Eckholm can be viewed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/us/10deer.html?ref=deer.

Although there is not much people can do to control a deer from running out in front of their car, there is a product that can be attached to the front bumper of a car that will let out a loud whistle (too loud to be heard with a human ear) that will scare animals away from the road.  This device is called Save-A-Deer and can be purchased at deerwhistle.com.  I believe this is a great product for both hunters and non-hunters because it will not only help reduce harm to drivers, but it will also help preserve the deer population.