Beware The Deadly Deer
Every season presents the potential for paradise or peril.
Spring rejuvenates our spirits with new life to dormant trees, flowers and forest animals – but also can threaten us with devastating floods and tornadoes.
Summer’s balmy, sun-filled days may transform into lightning storms and hurricanes; winter may smooth over all the rough edges with a comforting blanket of powder or bury us in a blinding blizzard.
And fall, with its dazzling, kaleidoscopic foliage, also carries mortal hazards, about which I was reminded the other day.
As I drove home one night a deer bounded in front of my car and fortunately leapt away before making contact. In that heart-stopping instant I flashed back to two previous incidents when neither the deer nor my car was so lucky.
More than a decade ago a full-sized buck grazed my left front end while trying to cross the road – I was going about 25 mph so the only damage was a smashed headlight and dimpled fender; the deer barely broke stride. A few years ago the collision was more devastating and nearly disastrous.
While driving 65 mph on Interstate 95 late at night I rounded a curve and suddenly confronted a doe in the middle of my lane. I slammed on the brakes and jerked the steering wheel, but it was too late.
Wham! I plowed into the hapless animal, sending its lifeless body to the side of the road. After catching my breath I pulled over past the carnage and was able to pull by hand a crumbled fender farther away from a wheel so I could shakily drive home.
The deer may not have been lucky, but I was.
According to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHSA) there are about 1.5 million deer-related car accidents annually, a number that has risen steadily because of increasing deer populations and destruction of their habitat. About 200 people die and 10,000 are injured each year from such accidents, which cause more than $1 billion in damage, the government agency reports.
The NHSA offers some seemingly counter-intuitive advice:
“The leading cause of accidents, injuries, and deaths from deer-related accidents is when vehicles swerve in an attempt to avoid hitting a deer. Swerving can result in vehicles moving into oncoming traffic, crashing into trees and other objects, or evening rolling over. While it may be against a driver’s first instinct, the safest thing to do is slow down as much as possible and let your vehicle strike the deer. Instincts tell us to avoid an obstruction in the road, but if you can train yourself to not swerve to avoid deer in the road you will keep yourself, your passengers, and other drivers much safer.”
Other suggestions:
Slow down when you see a deer-crossing sign; be extra-vigilant between 6 and 9 p.m., when deer are most active; be aware that deer mostly move in packs, so if you see one others likely are nearby; and use high beams when possible.
Rutting season typically extends from October through November, when deer have more on their mind than watching for traffic, so risks now are at their peak.
This also coincides with another season, which brings me to a separate concern.
While out for an early morning run the brush alongside the road rustled and out stepped a man carrying a rifle, preparing to return to his truck parked nearby.
Yes, I know it’s hunting season, and yes, I’m used to hearing shotgun blasts and rifle shots in the woods but still it’s a little unsettling to lope past someone armed with a deadly weapon.
I’m not going to weigh in on the issue of shooting animals, and assuming the hunter I encountered was properly licensed don’t challenge his legal right to appear in public with a rifle. That is a price we pay for living in a rural area.
I imagine the reaction would have been different if a runner had a similar encounter in New York’s Central Park, the Boston Common, or outside the White House.
So in fall we not only have to watch out for deer springing in front of cars we also must be extra careful in and near the woods.
State law requires deer hunters in Connecticut to wear an article of clothing that has 400 square inches of fluorescent orange material visible above the waist and visible from all sides.
The law of common sense demands that anybody walking through the woods during hunting season abide by the same requirement.
I’ve told this story before, but it bears repeating.
My late, great friend Johnny Kelley of Mystic, the former Boston Marathon champ who introduced me years ago to the joys of running on forest trails, once was jogging merrily alongside a tall stonewall when a shotgun blasted just above his head.
The hunter apparently mistook his mop of hair for a squirrel – and then angrily shouted at Johnny for running so recklessly.
Johnny never told me exactly how he responded, but I’m sure he held his tongue. It’s never a good idea to provoke someone carrying a loaded weapon.
Anyway, be careful out there, on the trail or behind the wheel.
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