Most drivers in Iowa can relate to the heart pounding near miss of a deer that came out of nowhere to appear in front of them on the road then disappears as quickly into a field, timber or the darkness. It is a reminder that deer are out there, and to slow down and pay extra attention to avoid a collision.
Deer are on the move in the fall because instinct and diesel fuel has changed their normally mundane routine. The breeding season is in full bloom by early November, causing bucks to temporarily loose their normal reclusiveness and look for does ready and willing to breed. If that was not enough, then add in the annual crop harvest with combines and tractors working the fields all hours of day and night, pushing deer from their usual feeding and bedding areas.
“We say it every year, the best way to avoid hitting a deer is to slow down, to avoid traveling around dusk and dawn if possible, and to make the extra effort to scan the ditches from fence line to fence line looking for deer,” said Tom Litchfield, state deer biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
When daylight savings time ends on Nov. 1, suddenly, the drive home from work will be at dusk when deer movement is high.
“In the unfortunate situation where a collision cannot be avoided, it is usually safer to hit the deer than to leave the roadway or swerve into oncoming traffic,” he said.
The number of road-killed deer reported by the Iowa Department of Transportation in 2008 was down 16 percent from 2007. Statewide, deer populations are declining but the decrease in last year’s reported road-kills cannot be attributed solely to these population declines. Since 2004, there has been a declining trend for both indices in Iowa.
Outdoors
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Photo by Julie Clark
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