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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 to the hills outside San
Antonio and Austin, they quickly discover that 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 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 30 million white-tailed deer in the U.S. today.
With these wildly elevated numbers comes 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.” 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. Humankind did
its best, intentionally and otherwise, to wipe out the wolves and buffalo,
the cougar and bighorn sheep – but the javelina and ringtail remain.
Thankfully, so do the skunk, fox, jackrabbit, and deer. 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. If you find injured or orphaned deer,
please call Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation day or night at (830) 336-2725. |
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Tickets
for Win a Wild Ride to Save Wildlife are going fast. Don't miss
out on your opportunity to win a 2007 Lexus ES350. A $250 ticket includes
one chance to win the 2007 Lexus ES350 and admission for two to the
gala event. Only 350 tickets will be sold.
This
is the biggest fundraiser of the year for WRR. It will be held at the
San Antonio Museum of Art on Thursday, April 5, 2007, from 6:00–9:00
p.m. This gala evening includes live music by jazz combo, Small World,
food and beverages from several of San Antonio's finest restaurants,
breweries, and wineries, live and silent auctions and the highlight
of the evening — a drawing for a luxury 2007 Lexus ES350 automobile!
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The
Do No Harm Farm at Wildlife Rescue is made up of 250 farmed and domestic
animals who have been rescued from the indignity and abuse of slaughterhouses,
factory farms and petting zoos. Some of the residents have been discarded
because they were born with physical imperfections. Thanks to the Do
No Harm Farm, and despite society's designation of them as commodity
animals, they now live a life of freedom and peace on the WRR acreage.
One
of our newest farmed animal residents is a young, blind calf. Born a
twin, he was separated from his brother who had the good fortune of
being born fully sighted. Thankfully, instead of killing the calf, the
former owners brought him to WRR and released him permanently into our
care. Only a few weeks old when he arrived, he took to consuming quarts
of formula each day and is now growing bigger, stronger and more confident.
Part of his confidence no doubt comes with the companionship of a young
cow named Chester who befriended the sightless newcomer and is busily
showing him the ropes of pasture life.
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| If
you enjoy reading the e-newsletter, you can find more information and
heart-warming stories in our paper newsletter editions. Newsletters
since 2004 are posted on our website. Just click the link below to read
on.
If
you would like to be added to our list to receive future mailings of
our paper newsletters, email your name and address to bradyh@wildlife-rescue.org.
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Please feel free to share our newsletter with family and friends! Thank you for supporting Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation.
Sincerely,
Angela Grimes, Director of Operations Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
email:
info@wildlife-rescue.org
phone:
830-336-2725
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