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Home > Media Room > Press Releases & Articles from WRR > Decelerating for Deer: With deer
and human populations rising, highways prove deadly meeting
ground.
 For
Immediate Release
Monday, December 4, 2006
Decelerating for Deer
With deer and human populations rising,
highways prove deadly meeting ground.
Kendalia, TX – Monday, December 4, 2006
– Urban drivers jockeying along illuminated city blacktop
have only fellow frazzled drivers to fear as they race from
home to work and back again. But as more and more dissatisfied
city-dwellers move house to the hills outside San Antonio
and Austin, they quickly discover they share these winding
roads with a variety of new neighbors – and not just
the two-legged kind.
Too often, we meet our neighbors at a dangerous
disadvantage: under the glare of our own headlights at speeds
that often make collisions unavoidable.
The dark ribbons of roadway intersecting the
hills of the Texas Hill Country were laid thousands of years
after families of deer, opossum, raccoon and coyote first
began to turn over rocks and scour streams in their quest
for food and shelter. Thanks to booming development of recent
years, wildlife now have more "dark ribbons" than
ever before to navigate.
This time of year, the most common highway
encounter is with the celebrated and stalked White-tailed
deer. Thanks to the elimination of nearly all White-tail's
natural predators and a doting Texas Parks & Wildlife
Department out to ensure a deer carcass for anyone willing
to hoist a rifle and squeeze, deer populations in Texas –
steady at 4 million strong – are higher than any time
since the days of James Bowie.
 There
are estimated to be a whooping 30 million White-tailed deer
in the U.S. today. With these wildly elevated numbers come
increased risk of deadly collisions.
"Native deer, like all members of the
wildlife community have little or no chance of surviving a
collision with the cars and trucks we believe to be a necessary
part of our daily lives," said Wildlife Rescue &
Rehabilitation founder and director Lynn Cuny. "We have
created a human dominated world and by doing so have destroyed
what was once a peaceful and safe environment for wildlife."
Although the majority of vehicle-deer collisions
are likely not reported, claims by State Farm Insurance holders
show a jump of six percent of such collisions between 2005
and 2006 – from 182,458 to 192,877. Average vehicular
damages are also up – from $2,400 to $2,800.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
estimates there are 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions annually
in the United States, causing more than 150 human fatalities
and $1.1 billion in property damage. Deer fatalities are not
recorded.
With some highways in West Texas now sporting
speed limits of 80 mph it may be impossible for drivers there
to avoid the animals, but on county roads closer to home the
answer to avoidance is surprisingly simple – slowing
down.
Simple tips to avoid collisions with deer
and other wildlife include:
| • |
Slowing down during
the hours around sunrise and sunset — especially
between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. This is when deer are most
active. |
| • |
Keeping an eye on the side of the
roadway and using high beams as much as possible. Remember,
if you see a deer there are likely more about since
they usually travel in groups. |
| • |
Using your hazard lights to alert
other drivers after you spot a deer near the road. |
| • |
If a deer appears "frozen"
in your headlights, try flipping your lights on and
off quickly. |
| • |
Don't rely on "deer whistles."
These devices have not been proven and may give drivers
a false sense of security. |
| • |
Always wear your seat belt. Don't
drive when you are tired. Stay rested and sober. |
For these fellow Hill Country inhabitants,
and for your own safety, WRR urges area drivers to decelerate
during the darker hours this hunting season and beyond. It's
simple and simply humane.
About Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation (WRR)
(www.wildlife-rescue.org)
was founded in 1977 in San Antonio by Lynn Cuny. Our mission
is to provide rescue, rehabilitation, and release of orphaned,
injured, and displaced wildlife, and provide sanctuary with
dignity for non-releasable and non-native wild animals who
have been the victims of the exotic pet trade, rescued from
roadside zoos, or used in research. Today WRR volunteers and
staff annually receive 5,000–6,000 animals at our 187-acre
sanctuary outside Kendalia, Texas. Over 600 wild and farmed
animals make their permanent home at WRR.
Contact Information
If you find injured or orphaned deer, please
call the WRR 24-Hour
Emergency Hotline
at (830) 336-2725.
For more information about Wildlife Rescue
& Rehabilitation's sanctuary operations or educational
programs visit www.wildlife-rescue.org
or contact Education & Advocacy Coordinator Gregory Harman
at education@wildlife-rescue.org
or (830) 336-2725.
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