deer story

~R said:

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

Two years ago, I moved to a mostly rural area just north of the Twin
Cities in Minnesota. I noticed a large number of deer carcases on the
side of the road (not all in one place). The highway department
doesn't even haul them away, they just get them away from the pavement
and cover them with wood chips. In some areas, they average one every
50 feet or so.

Car-deer accidents are so common, I started asking locals if hitting a
deer was inevitable. After getting many "yes" answers, I finally
talked to someone (a lifetime local) who said he'd never hit a deer.
Another person standing right there said "Well I've hit two." so the
average didn't go below 1:1 for more than a few seconds.

My point? With all those dead deer, the deer must have seen others get
killed on the road. They have to be able to smell the rotting corpses
of their kin. Yet they still get hit. Yes, deer are very stupid.

Austin (not sure Minnesota drivers are any smarter)

~R said:

On my way to work yesterday. It was early, just before sunrise,
so I had my blinky lights on. Coming down this main road, a very
large deer waltzes out in to the road in front of me. At as I
approach, this thing is obviously not in any hurry to get out of
the road, and it seems to be mesmerised by my blinky headlight.
So I don't want to get too close to it, the thing was huge and
could stomp me out of my misery if it got scared. So I started
making noise, clapping my hands, yelling, "Ya! Ya!", ringing my
mini-bell and crazy stuff like that. This didn't faze the deer,
but it brought two more out of the bushes into the road. This is
all in a matter if about 5 seconds, since I'm approaching at
about 16 MPH, but starting to slowly decellerate as I get closer.
So now with three deer in the road, I'm getting to about 5 feet
away from them, I just simply say, "Get the heck outta the
road!", and they gallop away.

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

~Rob

It's mating season, you might have looked attractive to them.

Were you wearing musk cologne?

Life is Good!
Jeff

~R said:

On my way to work yesterday. It was early, just before sunrise,
so I had my blinky lights on. Coming down this main road, a very
large deer waltzes out in to the road in front of me. At as I
approach, this thing is obviously not in any hurry to get out of
the road, and it seems to be mesmerised by my blinky headlight.
So I don't want to get too close to it, the thing was huge and
could stomp me out of my misery if it got scared. So I started
making noise, clapping my hands, yelling, "Ya! Ya!", ringing my
mini-bell and crazy stuff like that. This didn't faze the deer,
but it brought two more out of the bushes into the road. This is
all in a matter if about 5 seconds, since I'm approaching at
about 16 MPH, but starting to slowly decellerate as I get closer.
So now with three deer in the road, I'm getting to about 5 feet
away from them, I just simply say, "Get the heck outta the
road!", and they gallop away.

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

I don't know -- they got YOU to perform a floor show for 'em!

:-D

AustinMN said:

~R said:

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

Two years ago, I moved to a mostly rural area just north of the Twin
Cities in Minnesota. I noticed a large number of deer carcases on the
side of the road (not all in one place). The highway department
doesn't even haul them away, they just get them away from the pavement
and cover them with wood chips. In some areas, they average one every
50 feet or so.

My cousin has an auto wrecking yard, and while driving his ramp truck
(truck with a ramp, where you can winch a car onto it), he hit a deer.
The game warden and police investigated, the warden, asked him if he was
interested in "the body", He said he could use some extra meat, so they
tossed it on the back of his truck, and it ended up in his freezer. He
had to fix the truck, and got the deer in exchange..... Then again it
saved the warden having to get rid of it. I would expect around there,
that this wasn't the first time the warden had done this.....

Quoted message said:

Car-deer accidents are so common, I started asking locals if hitting a
deer was inevitable. After getting many "yes" answers, I finally
talked to someone (a lifetime local) who said he'd never hit a deer.
Another person standing right there said "Well I've hit two." so the
average didn't go below 1:1 for more than a few seconds.

A deer does quite a bit of damage, depending on how you hit it, you can
easily do a couple of large worth of damage.... You do less damage to
an older pickup, I would imagine that if you hit a deer with a smart
car, there would be nothing left.....

W

The Wogster said:

AustinMN said:

~R said:

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

Two years ago, I moved to a mostly rural area just north of the Twin
Cities in Minnesota. I noticed a large number of deer carcases on the
side of the road (not all in one place). The highway department
doesn't even haul them away, they just get them away from the pavement
and cover them with wood chips. In some areas, they average one every
50 feet or so.

My cousin has an auto wrecking yard, and while driving his ramp truck
(truck with a ramp, where you can winch a car onto it), he hit a deer.
The game warden and police investigated, the warden, asked him if he was
interested in "the body", He said he could use some extra meat, so they
tossed it on the back of his truck, and it ended up in his freezer. He
had to fix the truck, and got the deer in exchange..... Then again it
saved the warden having to get rid of it. I would expect around there,
that this wasn't the first time the warden had done this.....

SOP in Ontario these days. I don't even think you need to have a game
warden show up. A telephone call may be sufficient. I got some nice
deer liver from a neighbour that way. He kept the tendeloin.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Car-deer accidents are so common, I started asking locals if hitting a
deer was inevitable. After getting many "yes" answers, I finally
talked to someone (a lifetime local) who said he'd never hit a deer.
Another person standing right there said "Well I've hit two." so the
average didn't go below 1:1 for more than a few seconds.

A deer does quite a bit of damage, depending on how you hit it, you can
easily do a couple of large worth of damage.... You do less damage to
an older pickup, I would imagine that if you hit a deer with a smart
car, there would be nothing left.....

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Quoted message said:

The Wogster said:

AustinMN said:

~R wrote:

>I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
>dumb!

Two years ago, I moved to a mostly rural area just north of the Twin
Cities in Minnesota. I noticed a large number of deer carcases on the
side of the road (not all in one place). The highway department
doesn't even haul them away, they just get them away from the pavement
and cover them with wood chips. In some areas, they average one every
50 feet or so.

My cousin has an auto wrecking yard, and while driving his ramp truck
(truck with a ramp, where you can winch a car onto it), he hit a deer.
The game warden and police investigated, the warden, asked him if he was
interested in "the body", He said he could use some extra meat, so they
tossed it on the back of his truck, and it ended up in his freezer. He
had to fix the truck, and got the deer in exchange..... Then again it
saved the warden having to get rid of it. I would expect around there,
that this wasn't the first time the warden had done this.....

SOP in Ontario these days. I don't even think you need to have a game
warden show up. A telephone call may be sufficient. I got some nice
deer liver from a neighbour that way. He kept the tendeloin.

This was in Ontario, probably 15-20 years ago, so it may have been SOP
even then, you probably don't even need a warden, phone or otherwise at
certain times of the year (like during deer season), sure as heck a
better idea then just letting them rot at the side of the road, which
the OP said happens in Minnesota. I would imagine that if the driver
didn't want it that the investigating police officer or the tow truck
guy could end up with some "free" venison too.....

W

: I don't know -- they got YOU to perform a floor show for 'em!
:
: :-D
:

Me: (those deer are stupid)

the Deer: (that guy is stupid...and a clown!)

~Rob

: It's mating season, you might have looked attractive to them.
:
: Were you wearing musk cologne?
:
:
: Life is Good!
: Jeff

No, but maybe I should take the antlers offa my helmet. ya think?

~Rob

~R said:

Quoted message said:

I don't know -- they got YOU to perform a floor show for 'em!

:-D

Me: (those deer are stupid)

the Deer: (that guy is stupid...and a clown!)

Like that cartoon of a little old lady squatting down to offer nuts to a
pair of squirrels. Caption is "I can't stand it! They're so CUTE when they
do that!" (Quoting one of the /squirrels/, of course 🙂 )

A couple of points about deer.

1. They are stupid (I think of them as the chickens of the mammal
world). A couple years ago, I was cycling through a provincial park.
To my left were three deer grazing. They were facing away from the
road. As I was about to pass them, they whirled around and darted
across the road, right in front of me. Running close to a threat is not
the best way to flee the threat.

2. We are in, or approaching, rutting (mating) season. Bucks (male
deer) are currently mental as anything. If you startle them or make a
loud noise, they are apt to treat you like a competitor for local
females and may charge into you. In a car, this is a bad thing. On a
bike, this may be a fatal thing.

IANADBIEET (I Am Not A Deer But I Enjoy Eating Them)

Jeff

Quoted message said:

No, but maybe I should take the antlers offa my helmet. ya think?

Wearing orange might not be a bad idea either.

Well, someone had to do it!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1940512&type=story

"The results of our study confirmed that deer possess two (rather than
three as in humans) types of cones allowing limited color vision. The
cone that deer lack is the "red" cone, or the one sensitive to long
wavelength colors such as red and orange. This suggests that wearing
bright colors while hunting does not affect hunting success. This does
not mean that these colors are invisible to deer, but rather that they
are perceived differently.

Deer are essentially red-green color blind like some humans. Their
color vision is limited to the short (blue) and middle (green)
wavelength colors.

As a result, deer likely can distinguish blue from red, but not green
from red, or orange from red. Therefore, it appears that hunters would
be equally suited wearing green, red, or orange clothing but perhaps
slightly disadvantaged wearing blue."

~R said:

On my way to work yesterday. It was early, just before sunrise,
so I had my blinky lights on. Coming down this main road, a very
large deer waltzes out in to the road in front of me. At as I
approach, this thing is obviously not in any hurry to get out of
the road, and it seems to be mesmerised by my blinky headlight.
So I don't want to get too close to it, the thing was huge and
could stomp me out of my misery if it got scared. So I started
making noise, clapping my hands, yelling, "Ya! Ya!", ringing my
mini-bell and crazy stuff like that. This didn't faze the deer,
but it brought two more out of the bushes into the road. This is
all in a matter if about 5 seconds, since I'm approaching at
about 16 MPH, but starting to slowly decellerate as I get closer.
So now with three deer in the road, I'm getting to about 5 feet
away from them, I just simply say, "Get the heck outta the
road!", and they gallop away.

I've never seen a deer that didn't move, and quickly, if I barked at
it. Seriously! Whether it's in the country, where it could be
hunted, or in a national park, where hunting is forbidden, make a
sound like a dog and they'll take off.

Pat

Email address works as is.

~R said:

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they
dumb!

They may be dumb, but they're right up there with roaches, norway rats,
pigeons, and squirrels in the great race to adapt to human lifeways. An
animal that is "dumb" enough to graze 5 feet from the interstate is more
likely to survive in an interstate-riddled landscape than an animal that
gets all freaky about sharing the road.

"The Wogster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
a few seconds.

Quoted message said:

A deer does quite a bit of damage, depending on how you hit it, you can
easily do a couple of large worth of damage....

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/archive/photo55p.htm

Roger Houston said:

"The Wogster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
a few seconds.

Quoted message said:

A deer does quite a bit of damage, depending on how you hit it, you can
easily do a couple of large worth of damage....

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/archive/photo55p.htm

Realise that the truck in the photo would be a write off by the
insurance company.... I had a car that was hit by a large branch that
broke off a tree, and it did similar damage, the car was a write off.
The tree was owned by the city, the insurance went after the city, they
cut down what was left of the tree....

W

~R said:

I love animals, and deer are cute and all, but GOSH! are they dumb!

I saw a piece on TV last night about deer on the roads. Supposedly,
November is their mating season, and the worst month for them wandering
across roads in search of a good time. Other factors include decreasing
wilderness due to development, and hunters scaring them out of the
woods.

Art Harris

The Wogster said:

Quoted message said:

The Wogster said:

AustinMN wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>Two years ago, I moved to a mostly rural area just north of the Twin
>Cities in Minnesota. I noticed a large number of deer carcases on the
>side of the road (not all in one place). The highway department
>doesn't even haul them away, they just get them away from the pavement
>and cover them with wood chips. In some areas, they average one every
>50 feet or so.

My cousin has an auto wrecking yard, and while driving his ramp truck
(truck with a ramp, where you can winch a car onto it), he hit a deer.
The game warden and police investigated, the warden, asked him if he was
interested in "the body", He said he could use some extra meat, so they
tossed it on the back of his truck, and it ended up in his freezer. He
had to fix the truck, and got the deer in exchange..... Then again it
saved the warden having to get rid of it. I would expect around there,
that this wasn't the first time the warden had done this.....

SOP in Ontario these days. I don't even think you need to have a game
warden show up. A telephone call may be sufficient. I got some nice
deer liver from a neighbour that way. He kept the tendeloin.

This was in Ontario, probably 15-20 years ago, so it may have been SOP
even then, you probably don't even need a warden, phone or otherwise at
certain times of the year (like during deer season), sure as heck a
better idea then just letting them rot at the side of the road, which
the OP said happens in Minnesota. I would imagine that if the driver
didn't want it that the investigating police officer or the tow truck
guy could end up with some "free" venison too.....

I believe all police in this area carry "roadkill tags" for road-kill
deer. (I know they did when I lived in Massachusetts). The reason the
corpses rot on the side of the road is because everyone who wants any
venison at all have all they want. My freezer is currently full of
venison, and I have neither shot, hit, or paid for a deer.

Anyone can have it. There is a hierarchy of who has claims, including
passers-by, but everyone has all the venison they want.

Austin

Roger Houston posted in response to:

Quoted message said:

"The Wogster" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

A deer does quite a bit of damage, depending on how you hit it, you can
easily do a couple of large worth of damage....

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/photo/archive/photo55p.htm

My goodness! That is not something you expect to have happen! They
don;'t say anything about injuries, but by the looks of the roof, the
driver could have sustained serious head injuries, and someone in the
passenter seat would likely have not seen what killed them.

Kind of proves SUV's can't protect you agasinst falling deer.

Austin