This morning's Paper had a feature report on the stag-gering number of Deer that are killed by motorists in Manitoba..10,000 a year!
Of those about 400 Deer are killed right here on the streets of Whateverpeg (pop 700,000).
This caught my attention because this weekend I am heading out to a family gathering in the Sandilands area about 100 Kanadian MileS to the East.
Last year we saw atleast 30 Doe staring into our headlights along the roadside. Drivers must slow down because they are unpredictable.
You don't want to hit a Bear or a Moose either.
In 2001 a Manitoban hit an 880 pound Black Bear and lived to tell about it..totalled his vehicle.
I bearly missed one last year near Grand Beach.
Deer stand about 3 1/2 feet tall and weigh a couple hundred pounds, but a Bull Moose, like my pet Mr Horny, can weigh over 1500 pounds and stand 6'5".
You'd think that they'd be hard to moose?
Moose are the perfect height for going over the hood, through the windshield, and right through what would be left of the occupants.
Do the Math.
1500 lbs @ 100 kpm = Terminal Impact.
Deer seem prone to get caught in the headlights at dusk and dawn and October/November is particularily troublesome because it is the rutting season.
The BUCKS are uberhorny (ok antlered) and the DOES are nervous. So respectively they're both totally pre-occupied with having and avoiding sex...
just like kids in High School.
There is a viral photo on the Interwebs of this Pole-Deer that was supposedly struck by a train and became lodged atop a hydro pole on the outskirts of Whateverpeg.
According to this Guy it could be a hoax because there is no trace of the carcass in the shadow..hmm?
According to a State Farm Insurance report, there were 2.4 million collisions between deer and vehicles in the U.S. between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009.
I wonder if other countries had similar problems with wildlife and vehicles.
In NSW Australian motorists hit about 23 Kangaroos a day. One report stated that about 6,000 Roos were killed on the highways last year...
my guess is that figure is waaaay higher.
I found some advice for motorists..
"If an encounter with a deer is inevitable, then you should hit the brakes up until the very last second of impact; suddenly releasing the brakes will send the deer propelling into the roadway rather than into your windshield."
60 sec.video
Most motorists get injured or killed while trying to avoid hitting the Deer and end up hitting a very unforgiving tree or pole or worse yet, oncoming vehicles.
I've had an ultrasonic Wildlife whistle on the hood of my Van for years, right next to the Twin M2HB .50 cal machine gun.
If you mount the "ultrasonic Wildlife whistle" backwards, does it attract deer?
ReplyDeleteThey wish they only had moose to worry about in Vancouver!
ReplyDeleteYep, it's becoming a very dangerous problem on our country roads as well... actually our roads are like abattoirs... squished squirrels and badgers everywhere.
ReplyDeleteSx
Roos can do a lot of damage to a car... but one thing you really don't want to hit is a wombat. Especially a big old one - it's like running into a furry rock. They're heavy, solid, and probably won't show any external injury after totalling a car! hehe
ReplyDeleteXL
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to try that..makes sense to me!
FAT SPARROW
In BC you need to avoid colliding with Sasquatch..no wait..one of those bodies would be worth million$!
SCARLS
Especially giant wooden Badgers!
STACE
Ah yes the Wombat. What a delightful rolly-polly little creature. They're prolly nasty little buggers like stoner Koalas and those psychotic Tasmanian Devils aren't they?
i've hit a kangaroo whilst driving out in the middle of nowhere, in the depths of night, it was terrifying. luckily i didn't die, or sustain injury to my car.
ReplyDeletei like to tell myself that the kangaroo was fine too.
I hate woodland creatures who jaywalk!
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived on the East Coast, we had to worry about wild hogs, too!
I remember one night when I was getting on the on ramp when a freakin deer gave a me dirty look before it charged at my car! Lucky for both of us, I accelerated quickly and avoided a nasty collision! I hope someone shot that mofo and mounted him on a wall!
Years ago riding in a Greyhound bus from Whitehorse to Toronto we hit a moose, and the bus driver went out and shot it because it was badly injured.The annoying crazy lady who sat across from me during the last 48 hours started screaming hysterically and I thought, "hey the bus driver has a gun"... sorry, just reminiscing about lost opportunites.
ReplyDeleteSad about the deer though.
that sounds like a film, Ellen.
ReplyDeletei think that George Cloonisface should play the bus driver. he's done the debonair mystery man to death. i'm not sure who they should get for the screaming woman though. monica bellucci?
I just read a story on the BBC were a stag pinned a walker doon and this bloke who lived nearby and was a part-time cage fighter 'bloody cages'ran doon and beat the stag up and later it was shot, you have to be careful they don't call it 'wild' life for nothing.
ReplyDeleteI am more frightened of drivers on cell phones.
ReplyDeleteI think by the population of deers, we should move onto the dirt road to avoid them.
ReplyDeleteRoads are fun.. fun enough to see who can cross it before getting hit.
The big problem with the roos is that their eyes don't reflect headlights like other animals, so people have to be extra careful and drive around with big spotlights on their cars.
ReplyDeleteIn sunny South Africa, its ostriches.
ReplyDelete:D
venison is very tasty
ReplyDeleteRound these parts it's the pedestrians that are the problem.
ReplyDeleteThey stand in the middle of the bloody road, blinking stupidly. They walk out infront of buses and wonder why the driver honks at them.
Darwin said, "kill them all and lets cook em"
ReplyDeleteor something to that effect, polar bears rock!
"Cook 'em all and let the rectum decide"?
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, I knew it was serious, but your numbers brought the animal/vehicular impact tragedies right before my green eyes. I've had what George Carlin calls near misses...
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking, until I read further, those deers are like our roos, bloody things get on the roads..well, I need a big old Bull Bar on my new Pathfinder..STAT!
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking, until I read further, those deers are like our roos, bloody things get on the roads..well, I need a big old Bull Bar on my new Pathfinder..STAT!
ReplyDeleteSurely the easiest solution, if you don't want to hit one, is to move somewhere else?
ReplyDeleteOr would that be too simple?
stop harassing the Canadian wildlife Donno! *lol*
ReplyDeleteKeshi.
calling Donnn???
ReplyDeletewhere are you???