Wednesday 6th October 2004

Randy stags prove a problem

Don't hit a deer this month -- they're busy

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Randy stags with does on their minds are proving a hazard this month. The RAC Foundation reckons that up to 50,000 deer are killed or injured annually in road accidents, and caused the deaths of 10 motorists last year, 250 injuries and some £11 million worth of vehicle damage through collisions.

The Foundation has launched a campaign to cut those numbers. The plan is that drivers should report collisions to the National Deer Collisions Project, saying that 5,000 were reported in 2003 and 3,000 have so far been reported this year.

October to December are hazardous because the darker evenings and mornings are both rush hours and the times of greatest deer activity -- for red and fallow deer this is peak of the mating season when rutting bucks and stags tend to run blindly across the road.

Apparently, the greatest concentration of collisions so far reported comes from around Greater London and the Home Counties in England followed by areas of the South, East Anglia and Cumbria. This may be due to the presence of woodlands and concentrations of deer population, plus the greatest concentration of traffic. In Scotland, numbers peak in the Highlands and north east.

Meanwhile, Suffolk County Council is considering introducing rumble strips on rural roads to cut the number of deer collisions, according to a the local authorities' road safety officers association. The idea is that rumble strips generate noise and deter deer from crossing. Fencing and tunnelling have been dismissed because of cost.

[cdp]

Why don't they just encourage the fitting of sports exhausts and induction systems? My brother's tuned Elise could be heard comming from at least a mile away.

[peetbee]

So now I've got to count the deer on my number plate as well as the squashed bugs?

[ohopkins]

OH DEAR GOD !

No content with building subsiding roads, digging them up and adding unneeded street furniture,

They now want to put a rumble strip on all these roads ? Bollocks to everyone comfort, and bollocks to motorcyclists.

[havoc]

And I thought this was going to be a story about Blackpool's night-life!!!

[imperialism2024]

The Article said:

October to December are hazardous because the darker evenings and mornings are both rush hours and the times of greatest deer activity -- for red and fallow deer this is peak of the mating season when rutting bucks and stags tend to run blindly across the road.

And thus begins the little-known Auto Season, between Archery Season and Muzzleloader Season. Minimum Size: 3 points or $800 in damage, whichever is greater.

[cdp]

imperialism2024 said:

The Article said: October to December are hazardous because the darker evenings and mornings are both rush hours and the times of greatest deer activity -- for red and fallow deer this is peak of the mating season when rutting bucks and stags tend to run blindly across the road. And thus begins the little-known Auto Season, between Archery Season and Muzzleloader Season. Minimum Size: 3 points or $800 in damage, whichever is greater.

I stag joining you via the windscreen is also a pretty big penalty....

[ratpit]

12 stone of randy stag is going to be bad for you if you hit it with your car, but probably better than swerving and hitting a tree or another vehicle. Sorry but Bambi gets it every time.
Message for Ted. Stags mate with hinds, Red and Sika deer. Bucks mate with does, Roe, Fallow, Muntjac.
If I was going to write and article on tobogganing I would at least find out what they hit the ball with.