Deer Carnage on Pennsylvania Roads

If you’ve been a recent traveler of the highways in southeastern Pennsylvania, you’ve had to see the splattered and mangled bodies of dead whitetail deer.    You may even be amazed at the sheer number of bodies or what’s left of them on the busy car and truck-filled roadways, whether it’s the well-traveled highways or the equally busy rural roads.

The Institute for Highway Safety says deer-vehicle collision have been on the rise since 1975 and is backed up by PennDOT numbers.   In 2018, there was an all-time high of 1.5 million deer-car collisions causing $1 billion in damages and 200 motorists death.

Just yesterday, I counted at least seven bloody deer on the same highway in a three mile stretch.  Not good.   The roads have been plentiful of deer carnage during the past few weeks.

On a recent autumn afternoon, , my husband and I watched as a diminutive doe was crossing a rural road so slowly.     As we approached, we could see she was a fawn.  Small.     Her mother wasn’t far behind her on the other side of the less-traveled country road.   The older doe was being chased by a buck who are now in “rut.”

What is the “rut?”    That is the time of the year in November when male whitetail buck are getting ready to mate and start to chase doe.    When the doe aren’t ready,  they are chased, and at this time of year,  onto to roads.    The bucks are pretty much oblivious to their surroundings and will and do chase the does onto highways and other roads where they collide with vehicles.    It isn’t only the females who are hit and killed.    The males will continue the chase onto to the roads.

Dead buck struck by vehicle
photo/Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein

I found this buck along a major highway where it ran after being struck.    He wasn’t there too long but other animals had begun to eat near his back end.   Notice all the deer hair in the rear.

I hate to see this.    This is one of the few I’ve seen where the body was intact.   Sadly,  many are demolished through impact or getting run over by multiple vehicles.

Now is the time to be careful when driving.   Two of my cars have been involved with deer collisions where the outcome was deadly for both buck.   My sister, Teresa, was driving my car while I was a passenger.    All of a sudden, I saw a flash of brown and next thing I know my car hit something.   We sat in shock momentarily.   I nervously got out of my car to investigate  what we hit.   I spotted the dead deer a few yards from my car.    I also noticed my radiator was smoking.   The deer did extensive damage to the front end of my car.    Teresa refused to drive for a quiet awhile after that.

The second incident occurred while I was driving.   There was nowhere to swerve as a buck ran into my car on a two-lane busy road.    I pulled over as did two gentlemen behind me.     I watched as the buck died in front of my eyes.    What a lousy feeling to view that.

Despite the huge size of its antlers, there was little damage to my car.   I was able to drive to my destination as the two men took care of the deer.    They decided between them to have it butchered and to keep the antlers.    I was grateful for their assistance.

So what do YOU do to prevent a collision with a deer during this peak time of year for whitetail deer?

1.  Between dusk and dawn are the busiest hours of deer activity.    Be extremely attentive to deer on the roads.
2.  Don’t ignore “Deer Crossing” signs! They are there because deer are active in those areas.
3.  While you need to take extra precaution between dusk and dawn, you must also be vigilant during the day.    When buck are in rut, they are on the move throughout the day.    I’ve seen a lot of deer during the day recently so you must be cautious at all times.
4.  Lower your speed.

When you see a single deer, there are typically more deer behind them as they tend to walk single file.   Be aware.

Pennsylvania drivers are at more risk for vehicle accidents with deer.    A recent report found Pennsylvania is number 3 among all states and PA drivers have a 1 in 51 chance of an accident involving a big game animal, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

If you do hit a deer with your vehicle, you are not required to report it to the Game Commission.   Only PA residents are allowed to keep the carcass but it must be reported to the Game Commission in their county where the deer was killed.   You need to call within 24 hours.   You will be given a free permit number from the dispatcher which you will need to write down.

To report a dead deer to be removed from a road,  you can call the PA Department of Transportation at 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

Be alert and careful especially now!

Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and is an unabashed animal advocate. Her love for animals and quest for the hard truth is what drives her passion for all things animals. She hosts the show, ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.” She adores her once-abused tripawd, Brody. If you’d like Tina to talk to your group or have a story, please email her at tevangelistaepp@yahoo.com. Like https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows, articles, and podcasts you may have missed!