UK NEWS: Latest Deer Collision Figures

Around 74,000 deer are hit on Britain's roads every year, according to figures from breakdown service Autonational Rescue.

Such accidents can cause up to 700 human casualties, including several fatalities, and annually cost more than 21 million pounds in damage, according to the data.

"There are probably around 200 accidents a day involving deer," said Autonational marketing manager Ronan Hart.

"It's a much bigger problem than people realise and not something that happens once in a blue moon to motorists," added a spokesman for deer protection organisation, The Deer Initiative.

Source: AFP

USA NEWS: State Farm Annual Deer-Vehicle Collisions Report

While the number of miles driven by U.S. motorists over the past five years has increased just 2 percent, the number of deer-vehicle collisions in this country during that time has grown by ten times that amount.

Using its claims data, State Farm, the nation’s leading auto insurer estimates 2.3 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the U.S. during the two-year period between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2010. That’s 21.1 percent more than five years earlier. To put it another way, during your reading of this paragraph, a collision between a deer and vehicle will likely have taken place (they are much more likely during the last three months of the year and in the early evening).

Likelihood of Deer-Vehicle Collisions

For the fourth year in a row, West Virginia tops the list of those states where a driver is most likely to collide with a deer. Using its claims data in conjunction with state licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration, State Farm calculates the chances of a West Virginia driver striking a deer over the next 12 months at 1 in 42.

Iowa is second on the list. The likelihood of a licensed driver in Iowa striking a deer within the next year is 1 in 67. Michigan (1 in 70) is third. Fourth and fifth on the list are South Dakota (1 in 76) and Montana (1 in 82).

Pennsylvania is sixth, followed by North Dakota and Wisconsin. Arkansas and Minnesota round out the top 10.

The average property damage cost of these incidents was $3,103, up 1.7 percent from a year ago.



Source: State Farm

IOWA NEWS: Urban Hunt Aims to Reduce Vehicle Collisions

City of Urbandale wants to cull the herd to reduce number of auto accidents and property damage.

The city of Urbandale will once again allow a bow hunt of antlerless deer in some parts of the city, in an effort to thin the city's teeming deer population.

The Urbandale City Council voted during its meeting Tuesday to allow bow-hunting from Sept. 11 to Jan. 30 as part of the Polk County Conservation Board's annual controlled bow hunt for antlerless deer.

Urbandale police officer Jeff Casey, whose department oversees the bow hunt for the city, said recent studies showed Urbandale has about 135 deer per square mile west of Interstate Highway 35/80, compared to a county average of 43 per square mile.

Deer were responsible for eight motor-vehicle collisions in 2005, 33 in 2006, 26 in 2007, 24 in 2008 and 24 in 2009, Casey said, adding that one of the goals of the task force is to thin the herd to about 30 per square mile to help prevent accidents.

"That's the recommended number to prevent more damage than we're already seeing," Casey said. "We're consistently seeing property damage in addition to the traffic situations caused by deer. Bow-hunting can have a considerable impact."

Source: DeMoinesRegister

UK NEWS: Deer-Vehicle Collsions Number 74,000 Per Year

The soaring numbers of wild deer are causing havoc on Britain's roads, devastating ancient woodlands and ruining gardens, wildlife experts warned yesterday.

Conservationists say the UK's deer population has doubled since the 1970s and is now close to 2million - a level not seen since the time of the Norman Conquest.

According to new figures from the National Deer Collisions Project, the animals cause 74,000 road accidents each year - and kill up to a dozen drivers and passengers.

Yesterday, Dr Jochen Langbein, co-ordinator of the project, warned that the number of accidents would rise unless the creatures were better controlled.

He said 100 people are injured and up to 12 killed each year when deer run into roads.

Last month an inquest heard how a father of two died when a deer crashed through his windscreen. The animal had been hit by another vehicle near Basingstoke, Hampshire, pushing it into the path of his van.

Insurers pay out around £15million a year to repair cars hit by the animals.

The worst accident blackspots are in the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex where more than 300 deer are hit by cars each year.

Accidents involving the animals are often serious because they leap up if they are startled while crossing roads. Some scientists believe they see beams from headlights as solid objects and try to jump over them - ending up crashing into windscreens.

Since the 1970s deer numbers have been rising by three to five per cent a year, and most conservationists agree that 30 per cent of deer have to be shot each year to stop numbers going up.

The muntjac species is a particular nuisance.

Just 20 inches tall, they breed all year round and can be a massive pest for gardeners.

Source: Daily Mail

OPINION: Counting Deer in Wisconsin

How many deer are in Wisconsin? It depends on who you ask. From a recent story:

A debate continues to rage between Wisconsin hunters and the Department of Natural Resources over the true number of deer in the state. Hunters have repeatedly argued the deer population is dropping. The DNR counters saying there are too many deer in Wisconsin and the agency is studying a plan to extend the deer hunting season.

The debate is not new. What is new is some vehicle collision data that can be brought to bear on the question.

Now, hunters say they have the proof they need, a study that reportedly shows car-deer crashes in Wisconsin has dropped and has been dropping for years. Joe Terrien of MJ Collision Center in Bellevue has seen the numbers drop first hand. "Six years ago, we saw at least on deer hit a day. Now we're seeing two a week."

A collision data seems like a good source of data, at least at the level of a township. But does this hold up statewide?

Data from the Department of Transportation seem to confirm the drop. In 2003, a peak year according to the DOT there were more than 20 thousand car deer crashes reported by the State Patrol. Since then, the numbers are trending lower.

You can look at the 2008 DoT Report here. I do not think there is much ammunition to give credence to the hunters saying deer populations are down. Here is data showing the relationship between deer-vehicle collisions in Wisconsin from 1993 to 2008. Do you see a trend? Because there isn't one.



What does this mean? The interpretation is ambiguous. If you think deer densities should correlate with deer crashes, you would probably be suspect of the crash estimates, the deer population estimates, or both.

But DNR Spokesperson Kieth Warnke denied the connection between less deer and less car deer crashes."I don't think they reflect a magnitude of change in deer population state wide." Warnke does not deny the numbers in the study. But The DNR and DOT say there could be other factors involved. They give examples such as the bad economy is keeping many drivers off the roads and that may be responsible for the lower numbers.

I don't think Keith is correct here, either. His reasoning is correct, but he seems to exclude fewer deer as an explanation. The ideal approach to estimating population trends should incorporate all sources of data, but of course that is easier said than done.

In the final analysis, the exact number of deer does not really matter. If you are a hunter, what matters is seeing a deer during deer season. If you are a driver, what matters is not colliding with deer. Actual population estimates are nothing more than a tool to help population managers do their job. By this measure, the current SAK model, with all its flaws, does a reasonable job. That is not to say the DNR cannot do better. However, I think this latest salvo from the disgruntled deer hunters association has missed its target.

Source: NBC26

NEW JERSEY NEWS: Noise Devices Deployed to Reduce Collisions

Essex County will purchase and install noise-emitting devices to deter deer from roadways and potentially dangerous collisions with passing cars.

The devices will be put along Parsonage Hill Road and JFK Parkway in Millburn and around the East Orange Water Reserve in Livingston, county Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. announced Thursday.

The devices, which will be purchased through a $75,000 state Department of Transportation grant, emit a high-frequency noise to scare deer and prevent them from running into traffic. They are activated by sensors that detect headlights of approaching motor vehicles.

Hundreds of deer are struck and killed on county-managed roads each year, DiVincenzo said. Several dozen are also killed on municipal roads, county surveys revealed. The county has recorded 196 such accidents through September this year.

“The overabundance of deer in Essex County has destroyed the forest in our reservations and created dangerous situations on our roads. As we move forward in the third year of our culling program and accelerate the regrowth of our forests with an aggressive planting program, expanding the use of these reflectors will be a tremendous asset to make our roads safer and prevent deer-related accidents,”
DiVincenzo said in a news release issued Thursday.

The devices should be in place by the spring.

Last year, the county kicked off its deer deterrent pilot program last year when it installed similar devices along a 3-mile stretch of Cherry Lane, a county road that cuts through the South Mountain Reservation. That effort was funded by the Essex County Parks Foundation.

The county has already requested funding from the DOT to expand the program to include additional roadways.

Source: NJ.com

ILLINOIS NEWS: Deer-Vehicle Accidents Down 5% in 2008

The Illinois Department of Transportation on Wednesday released statistics showing there were 814 fewer crashes between vehicles and deer in 2008 than there were in 2007. There were 24,212 deer-vehicle crashes reported in 2008 in Illinois. The department also says fewer motorists were injured in the crashes -- 758 in 2008 compared with 843 in 2007.

Both the state transportation department and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources say motorists should be aware that deer are more active during the fall and during the dawn and dusk hours. Officials say motorists should wear their seat belts and be alert to deer on roadways.

The article fails to note the connection between accidents declining 5% and the deer population declined about 5% over the same interval.

Source: Chicago Tribune

USA NEWS: Every 26 Seconds...

More on the State Farm report.

One in every 228 Illinois drivers will hit a deer this year, according to a State Farm analysis.

Illinois deer-car collisions are up 3 percent from five years ago, a slight uptick compared with the 18 percent increase in collisions around the country in that same time period, State Farm is reporting.

The insurance agency's research suggests that every 26 seconds in America, someone slams a deer with a vehicle.

Dick Luedke, State Farm spokesman, said the data didn't break out specifics for the Chicago metropolitan area.

Illinois drivers don't need to journey far to find themselves more likely to be in the path of one of the beasts.

Neighbors Michigan and Iowa are second and fourth on the State Farm list. Rounding out the top five places drivers are most likely to hit a deer are West Virginia (1), Pennsylvania (3) and Montana (5).

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

USA News: Deer Crash Risks for 2010

West Virginia drivers lead the U.S. in collisions with deer for the third straight year as a larger population of the animals meets increasing traffic in once-rural areas, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said.

One in every 39 drivers in West Virginia is likely to hit a deer in the next 12 months, State Farm said today. The probability was 1 in 45 in last year’s study. Michigan ranked second, with odds of one in 78, according to State Farm claims data and motor vehicle registration counts from the Federal Highway Administration.

“We see thousands of dollars worth of damage,” said Spyro Nicoloudakis, co-owner of A-1 Body Shop in Charleston, West Virginia. “Everybody, one time or another, has had an experience with hitting a deer.”

Crashes reach their peak from October through December -- deer mating season -- and cause more than $1 billion in vehicle damage annually, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said in a separate study. Urban sprawl and limits on hunting contribute to the increase, wildlife specialists said.

“You have deer that are very actively seeking each other out and competing with each other for mates,” said John Niewoonder, big game specialist at Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources. No matter the time of year, “you have more roads and more people driving around,” he said.

Michigan is combating the problem by advising motorists not to “veer for deer.” People can put themselves at greater risk when they try to avoid hitting the animals, said Bob Felt, a spokesman for the state’s transportation department.

‘Brake Firmly’

“They end up going off the road and hitting a fixed object like a tree or a pole,” Felt said. “They get more seriously injured than they would have. To prevent fatalities and reduce injuries, we ask people to hold on to the steering wheel and brake firmly and come to a controlled stop.”

Hunting restriction in populated regions mean deer are growing more common in suburban areas, said Paul Curtis, an associate professor at Cornell University’s Department of Natural Resources.

“Deer are in those areas to start with, and they have low mortality because they are not hunted,” he said. “Adult does are having twins and occasionally triplets, so the population can increase pretty rapidly.”



Source: Bloomberg

ARKANSAS NEWS: Special Hunts Scheduled to Reduce Deer

Every year in Arkansas, thousands of drivers report crashing their vehicles into deer.

Hundreds more complain to their city officials about the animals eating precious rosebushes or grazing in backyard gardens. Deer in some areas have become such nuisances that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has been organizing urban hunts over the past few years to thin herds around towns. Those hunters are allowed to use only bows and arrows.

Hunts are scheduled for September and January in Horseshoe Bend, Cherokee Village, Bull Shoals and Hot Springs Village.

"The main thing is we've been getting in a lot of car accidents with them. I've hit three over the last few years," Horseshoe Bend Mayor Bob Barnes said. "This was a very touchy subject. We put it to ballot, and having urban hunts passed with about 67 percent for it."

Brad Miller, a deer biologist for the Game and Fish Commission, said 1,215 people reported crashing into deer in 2007 compared with 1,216 and 1,213 in 2006 and 2005, respectively. The animals can often be seen grazing along roads, Miller noted.

"Basically, they eat weeds," he said. "If it's late in winter, they will likely be eating the grasses on the side of the road. At other times of the year, they like the clover or other various weeds like goldenrod."

A report on deer-vehicle-collision claims from State Farm Insurance lists 18,498 such accidents in Arkansas from 2007 through 2008. Nationwide, the report lists 1.2 million such collisions for the same time period.

Accurately calculating the number of deer-vehicle collisions each year is difficult.

"People aren't required to report the accidents to Game and Fish," Miller said. "So, our numbers are only those folks who called our 24-hour number where you can report accidents with wildlife or if you had something like a bear in your yard."

The State Farm data also include collisions with moose and elk. There is an elk herd in north Arkansas near the Buffalo River.

"This data is based on actual comprehensive and collision claims, and as such, would not include deer-vehicle collisions where the policyholder had only liability insurance coverage, which is typically carried on older vehicles in some states," the report reads.

Miller said that typically, city leaders contact the commission asking for help after resident complaints mount. Wildlife experts then go to the area and survey the deer population and make recommendations to city leaders.

After conducting surveys in 2006 and 2007, the Game and Fish Commission recommended in 2007 that Little Rock consider allowing urban hunts. So far there haven't been any.

The highest density of deer was found in the Two Rivers Park area near Pinnacle Mountain. The June 2007 survey found that the area had one deer for every 3.4 acres. The June 2006 data showed one deer for every 2.5 acres (256 deer per square mile).

Assistant City Manager Bryan Day said having a hunt inside the Little Rock city limits will require much discussion.

He said that eight or nine years ago, the city amended an ordinance to prohibit the discharge of weapons - including bows - inside the city limits.

"Game and Fish came to us a couple of years ago and said a lot of places were having successful urban hunts in other areas of the state, and they would like us to consider it," Day said. "We have forwarded the Game and Fish request to the legal department for review. We're very much in an exploratory phase, and the staff does not have a recommendation yet for the city Board of Directors."

An urban hunt is the cheapest option for an area with nuisance deer herds the Game and Fish Commission found, listing the other options as:

Fertility drugs: $2 to $10 per dose, but $500 to $1,000 to trap or dart each deer.

Trapping and relocating: $400 to $1,000 per deer, with a low survival rate expected for the animals in unfamiliar habitat.

Sharpshooters: $150 to $400 per deer, with harvested animals donated to needy families.

In an urban hunt, each hunter is required to donate his first deer, which must be a doe, to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

In addition to reducing the number of collisions with vehicles, Miller said, keeping the deer population in check is important because the animals are a "keystone" species.

"That means they have the propensity to affect numerous other species, some positively and some negatively," Miller said. "For ground-nesting birds, deer can significantly reduce the amount of vegetative cover, and they can potentially eliminate some plant species altogether."

Sitting in his west Little Rock office, decorated with antlers and trophy art made from game fowl feathers, Miller pulled up a photo on his computer to illustrate his point.

The picture shows a wooded area with a fence running down the middle of the frame. On the side of the fence where there are no deer, there are wild fruit bushes, saplings and shrubs bunched between the towering trees. On the other side, the trees appear to be growing from a carpet of ferns. No other vegetation is visible.

"The deer don't eat the ferns," Miller said. "They don't like them much."

After completing the necessary education classes, 250 hunters will be selected at random for each urban hunting season with the exception of the hunt in Hot Springs Village where only 200 will be allowed to participate.

To be eligible, each hunter must complete the International Bowhunter Education Program either in the traditional classroom setting or online. Once a hunter passes the program, the certification is good for life, according to the Game and Fish Commission.

The final step for a hunter to become eligible to participate in the urban hunts is passing a shooting proficiency test.

"Basically they will be shooting at lifelike deer targets from 20 yards away," Miller said. "They'll have to hit a certain place with a certain number of arrows to qualify."

Barnes said that while the deer in Horseshoe Bend have been ravaging flower beds and gardens and crashing into vehicles, he's not planning to be a part of the hunt.

"It wouldn't be to my benefit," he said. "There's no way I could hit one using a bow."

Source: NWANews

GEORGIA NEWS: Berry College Studies Ways to Reduce Deer-Vehicle Collisions

Deer-vehicle collisions are a nationwide problem, killing an estimated 150 people each year and causing a billion dollars worth of damage, researchers say.

And, with as many as 2,500 deer roaming its property on any given day, Berry College is the perfect setting to study ways to avoid the collisions.

George Gallagher, professor of animal science, and his team of Berry students are collaborating with Bob Warren and Karl Miller of the University of Georgia to develop methods and devices to minimize deer-vehicle collisions. Their efforts are part of a seven-year study funded by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

“We do all our preliminary lab work at UGA’s captive deer facility and all the field work at Berry,” said Gallagher. “Berry represents a very wonderful urban deer population.”

Their past experiments have been designed to measure how a deer perceives and reacts to sights and sounds — in order to better understand the anatomy and physiology of the animal.

A common misconception is that deer have excellent hearing, Gallagher said.

“The truth is, their hearing is much closer to our hearing,” he said.

The current, yearlong, study is focusing on the effectiveness of a new fence designed to keep deer off roadways and lessen the possibility of an accident.

As part of this study, a two-mile stretch of temporary fencing has been constructed along Lavender Mountain Drive, which connects Berry’s main and mountain campuses.

One mile consists of the standard eight-foot fence often seen along highways.

“A deer can typically jump an eight-foot to ninefoot fence,” Gallagher said. This type of fence will work 80 to 90 percent of the time, but it’s relatively expensive and unattractive, he said.

The second mile consists of a new cost-effective design previously tested on the captive deer herd at UGA.

The new design is a fence with Bayco wire lined along the top and angled away from the road.

“Because of the angle, deer are a lot less likely to want to jump the fence,” Gallagher explained.

At the same time, if a deer is on the side of the road and comes upon the fence, it is more likely to jump over the fence to the safer side.

“The goal is to provide a fence that balances the need to minimize deer-vehicle collisions with a more cost-effective design, better suited for implementation and maintenance by Georgia and other DOT operations,” he said.

Before building the fence, teams of researchers canvassed the area around Lavender Mountain Drive in an effort to fit deer with GPS radio collars. Once deer have been collared, researchers are able to track their movements and learn more about their habits.

“The GPS collars provide an unprecedented glimpse into deer behavior by giving us a location update every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, for an entire year,” Gallagher explained.

“This type of information allows us to develop a better understanding of their behavior, which, in turn, puts us in a better position to try to determine how to alter their actions.”

In an effort to be as humane as possible, researchers used both tranquilizer darts and rocket-propelled nets to capture the deer without causing undue injury.

With the fences up, and the GPS collars on approximately 20 deer around Lavender Mountain Drive, Gallagher and his team are now collecting data.

Gallagher said he is hoping to provide more insight about the new fence by January.

“I’m not a fan of the high fences. I’m hoping we’ll have a fence design that is cost-effective and effective for the deer,” he said. “Now, we’re just waiting and letting the deer be deer.”

Source: Rome News Tribune

IOWA NEWS: Municipality Allows Public Bow Hunting to Reduce Deer Numbers

Beginning later this summer, qualified Johnston residents concerned about a high deer population in the city will be able to take matters into their own hands.

As in past years, the city of Johnston is making plans to allow bow hunting in the community between September and January. Under regulations that will be established by the City Council, some residents will be able to hunt deer in certain locations inside city limits.

City administrator Jim Sanders said city staff members have been fielding increased concerns this year about the local deer population.

"The primary concerns are damage caused to plants and gardens, and concerns about deer near the traveled portion of roadways," Sanders said.

The specific dates for this year's hunt will be established by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the council will determine in August or September the areas in which hunting will be allowed, Sanders said.

According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, deer hunters harvested about 4,000 fewer deer in the most recent season than during the previous season's harvesting of 142,194 statewide.

On its Web site, the Polk County Conservation Board reports deer populations are reaching threatening levels in some parts of the county. When deer populations exceed 20 deer per square mile, overuse of the natural vegetation can lead to destruction of the forest understory, and without a native vegetative habitat, many other species of wildlife may not be able to remain in the area.

In addition to wildlife-related concerns and property damage, deer-vehicle collisions have increased by two-thirds in Polk County during the past 20 years, resulting in greater numbers of personal injuries and higher costs to repair and replace vehicles involved in those collisions, the conservation site said.

Johnston joins Urbandale, West Des Moines, Des Moines, Clive, Pleasant Hill and Polk County in allowing bow hunting in city limits during a designated time frame, Sanders added.

According to permit regulations for last year's hunt, applicants for bow hunting in Johnston must be at least 18 years old and meet the following requirements:

- Possess a valid deer-hunting license from the DNR

- Pass an approved International Bow Hunters' Education Foundation safety education course

- Pass a bow-hunting proficiency test with a score of at least 80 of a total 100 points

- Obtain written permission from the owner of the private property on which he or she wants to hunt. The property must be located within a "deer-management zone" as established by resolution of the City Council.

- Take all bow and arrow shots from an elevated stand and shoot no further than 75 feet

- Refrain from shooting within 300 feet of any street, road, school or electrical facility; within 200 feet of a home or building; or within 100 feet of any recreational trail or bike path.

- Recover and remove all deer carcasses shot

- Follow Iowa DNR hunting guidelines

- Adhere to designated shooting hours, a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset

- Refrain from stalking or driving deer

- Wear a blaze-orange hat when entering and exiting the hunting area, and carry the bow in a case to and from the stand

- Report to the city all deer taken within city limits.

Source: DesMoines Register

MINNESOTA NEWS: New Deer Warning System Tested

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The state is testing a warning system in southwest Minnesota aimed at reducing the number of deer traffic collisions.

The state has stopped putting up the yellow "deer crossing" signs because a University of Minnesota study found drivers were desensitized to them. And, with a deer herd estimated at 1 million, the animals are everywhere.

The system set up along Highway 23 near Camden State Park stretches nearly a mile and includes a wall of light beams that trigger flashing roadside lights to warn drivers when deer approach.

MnDOT says the deer warning system cost $150,000 and reduced collisions by 57 percent over 18 months of study.

Minnesota has averaged nearly 4,500 deer-vehicle crashes annually over that past 10 years.

Source: MLive

CONNECTICUT NEWS: Deer Kill Up, Deer Collisions Down

Road kills of deer in town have declined dramatically over the last decade, as the number of deer taken by hunters has risen.

“If you kill deer by hunting them, you get fewer car accidents,” Conservation Commission Chairman Ben Oko said. “That seems very clear.”

But a vast lowering of deer numbers — the culling of five out of every six deer now roaming Ridgefield’s forests — would be needed to bring the population down to levels that research has found can make a difference in keeping down ticks and Lyme disease.

The state counted 122 deer road kills in 1998, and just 35 in 2008. Deer taken by archery hunting rose from 55 in 1998 to 222 in 2008.

The pattern holds — with some ups and downs — across the 12 years from 1996 to 2008, according to statistics assembled by Howard Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist with the state environmental department.

And Ridgefield no longer leads the state in the number of deer killed on its roads.

“Ridgefield was consistently ranked number one for many years — it was for three, four, five years anyway,” Mr. Kilpatrick said. “In 2007, they were ranked number seven.”

Ridgefield Police count more road deaths of deer than does the state, but the trend is similar. Road kills fell from 205 seven years ago to 90 last year, according to Police Chief John Roche.

Annual road-kill totals from 2001 to 2008 were: 205, 129, 172, 198, 146, 115, 127, 90.

No method of counting deer — hunted, killed on the roads, or running in the woods — can be taken as 100% accurate, Mr. Kilpatrick said. His numbers are based on Deer Kill Incident Report forms that police all across the state fill out when they go to the scene of an accident.

The higher numbers from the Ridgefield Police include those incidents, but also count carcasses found along roads when no accident is reported.

Mr. Kilpatrick’s numbers on deer harvested are based on tags turned in by hunters, and are likely low since not all hunters turn them in. Still, he said his numbers were meaningful because the methodology was consistent over the 12 years.

“We know the reported harvest is low. We know the reported deer road kills are low,” he said. “But our method for collecting that data is the same, so any trends should reflect what’s really happening out there.”

“What Howard is saying is that there is still a correlation, whether it’s reported as what he had, or what we had,” Chief Roche said. “There is still a drop in the number of deer found dead on the side of the road.”

Full story at: Acorn Online

CONFENCE SUMMARY - Suburban Deer Hunts Most Effective Management Tool

When it comes to controlling the damage caused by deer in suburban areas, controlled hunts have proven to be one of the most effective ways of restoring the ecological balance to the region's forests, according to wildlife officials.

Last week, federal, state and county officials, along with a host of university researchers, gathered for the annual Northeast Fish & Wildlife Conference in Lancaster, Pa.

While the two-day conference dealt with a multitude of problems , from the mystery fungus killing bats throughout the northeast to grassland restoration to aid the Regal Fritillary butterfly, there were several presentations dealing with the region's deer problems.

It was 15 years ago that Union County became the first county in the state to apply for a special permit to allow for the culling of the deer herd in the Watchung Reservation. With no natural predators, the growing number of deer were devouring the understory, the smaller shrubs and plants that provide shelter and food for smaller species.

Since that first Watchung hunt, similar approaches have been adopted by communities and counties across the state, with the South Mountain Reservation in neighboring Essex County one of the latest to bring in marksmen to reduce the deer herd. In recent years, Summit and Scotch Plains have also had cullings.

In 1994, the first year of the hunt in the Watchung Reservation, counts indicated a population of at least 96 deer per square mile, more than triple the amount the 2,065-acre preserve could sustain, said Daniel Bernier, who heads the county's Division of Park Planning and Environmental Services. Bernier, together with Susan Predl, a biologist with the N.J. Bureau of Wildlife Management, outlined the progress of the hunt at the Lancaster conference.

Bernier said that by the 1980s, it was clear that the growing deer herd was taking its toll on the reservation. Residents from the five communities surrounding the reservation were becoming increasingly frustrated by the mounting destruction to their residential landscaping, along with concerns for Lyme disease.

Since the culling began, 1,289 deer have been removed, which has enabled the forest floor to begin to rejuvenate, Bernier said.

"We're seeing plants return that we haven't seen in quite awhile--but it's slow," he said.

The hunt provides anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of venison annually for the needy, with the hunters allowed to keep 20 pounds for themselves. The cost of the hunt has also been dramatically reduced, from $55,000 in the first year, to a cost now of $3,000. The number of marksmen has also been trimmed from over 90 to now about 11 in the woods at any one time.

Bernier told wildlife officials that the hunt is conducted under strict rules that hold all participants to a high degree of accountability. "We account for every shot, every hit, every miss," he said.

Predl said that every deer that is taken is examined, with data recorded for continual review.

While the argument has been made that hunts cause deer populations to increase because the surviving deer have less competition, Predl said an analysis of the Watchung data shows that is not the case.

Without a deer hunt, even conservative projections indicate the reservation would now be home to nearly 1,400 deer, Predl said. The most recent count determined that there are now about 77 deer in the reservation.

Also discussing the region's deer problems was Dr. Gino D'Angelo, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's wildlife services branch. D'Angelo oversaw a deer hunt in a section of Bucks County, Pa., just across the Delaware River northwest of Lambertville.

When deer grow overabundant, the entire ecosystem suffers, including the deer, he said, stressing there was no quick fix.

"It's no longer once and (we're) done," D'Angelo said. When the herds are left unchecked, "they're like a time bomb," he said.

The Bucks County hunts have led to a 15 percent reduction in deer-motor vehicle collisions and an increase in production at area farms by 18 percent, he said. Complaints from residents have dropped and the area's forests are showing signs of regeneration.

The recent protests by neighboring Essex County residents over the deer culling in the South Mountain Reservation was reminiscent of what Union County experienced when the Watchung hunts began, said County Manager George Devanney. But given the damage the deer were causing, residents came to accept the necessity of the hunt, he said.

"The county understands the emotional aspects of the deer culling," Devanney said. "But we have thrown the reservation's ecosystem out of balance and unless we reintroduce the deer's natural predators, like wolves, there is no other way to keep the deer population in check--and I don't think anyone is suggesting we do that."

New Jersey's deer population hit an all-time high in the mid-to-late '90s, said Carol Kandoth, who heads the state Department of Environmental Protection's Deer Project.

"Hunting is the most cost-effective and efficient method of control for any species," Kandoth said. "We had trap and transfer, but there is no place within the state to move them and most other states don't want them. And when you do move them, a third die anyway."

The original predators of deer were mountain lions and wolves and both species were eradicated several hundred years ago. In California, where they have allowed the cougar to remain, people have been killed and mauled, she said.

"When you inhabit the space that an animal normally inhabits, then you are responsible for managing the space that animal inhabits," Kandoth said.

Source: NJ.com

OHIO NEWS: Another Municipality Considers Deer Hunt

Officials are considering allowing bow hunters to thin the growing deer population inside the city limits.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates there are more than 1,000 deer living in the city of Heath, 10TV's Kevin Landers reported.

Over the past three years, 170 collisions between automobiles and deer have occurred in Heath.

One of those collisions involved Mayor Richard Waugh. The collision caused $3,000 damage to Waugh's SUV.

Waugh said reducing the deer population is a matter of public safety.

"We do not want injured deer running through the city," Waugh told 10TV News. "We do not want injured deer running through our neighborhoods."

In 2007, the city allowed bow hunters to kill deer near the airport after fears a plane would crash into one of the animals.

Some residents are concerned about hunting taking place in their neighborhoods.

"I don't want them hunting near public access areas or roadways," said Keary Oflaherty, who blames deer for destroying fruit trees on his property.

Keary agrees the city needs to do something about the deer population, just not near his home.

"Yes, they need to be thinned, but bow hunters don't need to be traipsing through here all the time," Keary told 10TV News.

Source: 10TV News

SOUTH DAKOTA NEWS: Jury Still Out On Effectiveness of Reflectors

An experiment to reduce the number of deer-vehicle collisions along Interstate 90 near Mitchell is now in its second year, but officials involved with the project say they have yet to see a major change in the number of accidents.

“It’s still kind of inconclusive yet as far as whether it’s a real benefit,” said Jeff Gustafson, the Mitchell region operations engineer for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. “Hopefully, the benefit will pay off in the long run.”

In September 2007, long lines of reflectors were placed along three stretches of I-90, including two segments near Mitchell and Mount Vernon and another near Sioux Falls.

The devices are manufactured to reflect light from a vehicle’s headlights into the eyes of a deer and discourage the animal from attempting to cross a road. Gustafson said the three areas in eastern South Dakota were selected for the project because of their high rate of deer-vehicle collisions.

After purchasing and installing the reflectors, the DOT released an analysis on the reflectors’ effectiveness a year later. While the study did show that reported deer-vehicle collisions in the three areas were down from 49 between October 2006 and September 2007 to 37 a year later, the number of dead deer removed from the areas rose, from 154 to 161.

The report said the reduction in reported accidents meant a return on an initial investment of $88,751, but Gustafson said the results aren’t enough to proclaim the program a success.

“We will ... keep analyzing the data, but we will probably not be putting any new ones up in any new locations until we verify that this is a good program or worth (the) money,” Gustafson said.

Art Smith, wildlife damage management program administrator for the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks, said he personally doesn’t believe the reflectors have been successful.

With no official scientific control – an area with similar conditions that does not have reflectors, for example – Smith said it’s difficult to determine what kind of difference, if any, the reflectors are making.

Smith said the reflectors have three inherent problems:

– They’re difficult to keep clean and at a proper angle;

– there’s no proof that light deters animal movements;

– and the idea that reflectors can affect animal behavior is, according to Smith, an “iffy proposition at best.”

Instead of the reflectors, Smith said he’d like to see a system that uses a roadside beam that, when broken, would set off a flashing yellow light to alert the driver.

“I am more inclined to believe that we have a better chance at affecting driver behavior rather than wild animal behavior,” Smith said. “We’ll never eliminate (accidents), but maybe we can reduce them”

Both Smith and Gustafson admit there’s no money in the budget for such a device right now. In the meantime, they intend to keep an eye on future results and hope scientific evidence will give an accurate reading on the reflectors’ effects.

“Hopefully, the benefit will pay off in the long run,” Gustafson said.

Source: Argus Leader

UK NEWS: Deer Populations Up, Need for Culling Up

The deer population in Britain has risen sharply in recent years and is now between 1.5 and 2 million.

The boom in numbers has lead to an increasing number of motorists being injured in collisions with the animals on the road.

They are also causing damage to the countryside.

Now conservationists say a cull is the only viable option.

Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex, which has several thousand Fallow Deer, about two dozen Roe Deer, large numbers of Muntjac and a small herd of Sika, has the highest number of deer-vehicle collisions in Britain.

In 2000 rangers attended 100 collisions involving deer compared to 266 in 2008, despite having fewer staff in 2008. The actual number of collisions is believed to be around 500 a year.

Dr Hew Prendergast, Clerk to the Conservators of Ashdown Forest, said: "The damage the deer are doing in the countryside and the numbers of casualties there are on the roads mean that something must be done.

No-one wants to blast deer to kingdom come for the hell of it but its better to have them killed humanely and sensitively than to let them die in agony on the side of a road."

He added: "The logistics of fencing off all the roads are impossible really to consider so a reduction of the population as a whole needs to be done."

Peter Watson, executive director of the Deer Initiative, said to keep the deer population static, 25 per cent needed to be culled every year.

With the deer population in Britain rising to up to two million, that requires around 350,000 deer to be culled.

Mr Watson said: "The impact of DVCs is far too high in relation to the number of deer. Deers have value but in some areas there are too many accidents and the balance is wrong."

Culling is not seen as the only answer but is hugely effective.

A culling programme in Herefordshire in 2005 reduced the number of DVC on the A49 from 50 to zero the following year.

Mr Watson added: "Sometimes it's the only way. There is no doubt that if you significantly reduce the deer population you can influence road traffic accidents."
DVC hotspots include Ashdown Forest, The New Forest, Thetford Forest in Norfolk and Cannock Chase, Staffs.

Trevor Banham, Chief Wildlife Ranger for the Forestry Commission East of England, said at Thetford Forest, which has a deer population of around 14,000, they cull 25 per cent every year to keep numbers down.

Forced to deal around 200 DVCs, he said there was no need for an extra cull.
He added: "We do have accidents but deer are wild animals. You can't fence them in."

Source: Telegraph

ONTARIO NEWS: Deer Population Grows, Longer Season Pondered

Bambi beware.

The Ministry of Natural Resources wants to expand the fall deer hunt season to control the exploding deer population.

In the past decade, herd numbers have increased by as much as 25 per cent in some areas, most notably southwestern Ontario.

Deer are thriving "for a whole bunch of reasons. More favourable winters, habitat changes – old farm fields growing back into young forests – those are just a few," said Christie Curley, a wildlife policy adviser with the ministry.

More deer have meant more road collisions and crop losses. So the ministry wants to have 22 new hunting regions as well as longer hunting periods, said Curley.

"For example, an area that has a two-day season is being expanded to seven days" while one-week seasons would double, Curley said.

But environmental organizations are crying foul.

Annamaria Valastro with the anti-hunting group Peaceful Parks Coalition said she doubts the change will have any effect. "The deer population is not the problem. The hunting population is declining."

Peaceful Parks has petitioned Premier Dalton McGuinty, to halt a proposed cull of whitetail deer in Presqu'ile Provincial Park.

Curley agrees that while Ontario hunter numbers in general have declined, the exact reverse is true of deer hunters.

Ranks of deer hunters have been steadily increasing for the past decade, she said.

Even so, taxidermist Manuel Jan showed muted enthusiasm when told the deer season may be expanding.

At a time when his business should be booming, Jan's little shop, the Mountain Lion Taxidermy Studio on Broadview Ave. just north of Danforth, is struggling.

"It won't increase business.""Nobody wants to spend the money," he said.

"There used to be 45 of us in downtown Toronto, now it's only me.

"You want to go hunting, you have to spend money. It's a luxury. Driving is expensive. The equipment is expensive," he said.

"I used to do 15 to 25 (deer heads) a year. Now it's six or seven."

Source: The Star

OPINION: What's More Likely To Kill You, A Shark Or A Deer?

Are you more afraid of being killed by a shark or a deer? The answer may surprise you.

There are lots of deer-vehicle collisions every year. Here is some data on fatalities in the United States.

A new study reports that fatalities from vehicle crashes with deer and other animals have more than doubled in the last 15 years. The study cites the overlapping of urban sprawl into deer habitat as a primary reason.

The report by the Highway Loss Data Institute found that 223 people died in animal-vehicle crashes last year, up from 150 in 2000 and 101 in 1993.

Source: Waterfowl and Retriever

There are also about 10 deaths per year in the U.K. due to deer-vehicle collisions, and I do not have data for Canada, Western Europe, or New Zealand. How does this compare to death by shark?

According to the latest figures by the International Shark Attack File, there was only one fatal shark attack in 2007. It took place in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The mean number of deaths between 2000 and 2007 was 5 a year.

In 2007, there were 50 shark attacks in U.S. waters, compared with 13 in Australia in the same year -- none were fatal.

The big difference between Florida and Australia is that the later has much bigger sharks and therefore more fatal attacks. From 1990 to 2007, Australia had 19 fatal attacks, Florida 4.

But there have only been a total of 56 fatal shark attacks in Australia in the past 50 years, or an average of about 1 a year, says the Australian Shark Attack File.

Source: Reuters

You are at least 46 times more likely to be killed by a deer than you are by a shark.