Apparently we're overrun with deer in this country and they want to start culling them news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4133919.stm, to reduce car accidents amongst other reasons. What's your experiences of these wonderful creatures? Do you see them as a motoring pest or a joy to behold when you see them particulally for your children?
Also a website for tips www.deercollisions.co.uk/ on reducing motoring deer accidents
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Depends where you live, and where they are. I live in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands, and I have come to see them as a total pain - not just as a motorist, but also as a gardener.
Yes, a stag is a handsome sight, but then so is a lion or an elephant. I don't want any of them in my back yard.
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I've hit a muncjack and can testify that they are solidly built things, even though there a very small deer.
There are some areas around Luton where the deer population is huge and traffic problems are regularly caused by them being on the road. I'd be happy with more management of the deer population, especially as I love venison.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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Yes we have Muncjack deer in suburban Surrey. You never see the damn things during the day anyway. The only magnificent Stags we have is a guy three streets away who has a nice white one with the original engine. In fact its a wildlife park. There is a Puma, a few Jaguars, and a Pony.
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Once in a while I see muntjac between Harpenden and Hitchin in the country lanes that I use almost every day. I think I've seen only one killed over at least 15 years, and that was on the A505. Spikeyhead must be referring to other localities around Luton; from my experience, they are a delightful but rare sight, and they're certainly no nuisance to the motorist.
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stag nearly killed me a year or two ago in scotland
i was in citroen ax
it was middle of night
he decided to move into middle of road facing me
causing me to brake
he would not give way
bit of horn blasting, and worried what do i really do if he has a go with those antlers thoughts, and after a few minutes he wandered off
so they are dangerous
not sure what could be done about it
as a jogger in a park with deers i used to notice they would always keep away while you are in the first half and fit and fresh, but would think nothing of coming out to threaten towards the end when you are knackered, again i never really figured out what i was gonna do if one of them actually went for it one day - was always horrified at mothers letting young kids walk up to them
they are wild animals with great big things on the top of their head, they would certainly make a mess of of citroen ax
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They are an absolute pain in the back lanes of Sussex and I saw a dead bambi by the roadside in a local forest only last week.
I have posted before about a friend who had his Merc written off in a collision with a deer , also in Sussex.
I once overtook a car on a straight back lane at night, went round a corner and spotted a stag leaping over the hedge into the road out of the corner of my eye and screeched to a halt . The car I had just overtaken came round the bend and had to slam on his anchors but by this time the deer had gone. The guy in the other car must have thought I was mad.It was a real brown trouser moment cos that stag was big and ten feet up in the air when I spotted him.
They are a danger, I'm all for more venison.
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A bloke I worked with years ago wrote off a Passat when he hit a deer in the New Forest. He claimed to have been doing 40mph, which was pretty unlikely, but he came round a bend and hit it. Its body (which is at winscreen height on a decent size deer) hit his passenger side A pillar and bent it almost double.
What I'm saying is that if you hit one you'll know about it; I don't know anything about how common it is.
V
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"hit a deer in the New Forest. He claimed to have been doing 40mph"
Possible - most of the country roads in the New Forest are 40mph limits, for this very reason.
Never had an incident with a deer - New Forest Ponies however, but thats another story!
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Spikeyhead must be referring to other localities around Luton;
Woburn and Ashridge arethe two main danger areas, but I've seen them around Dunstable and in other areas as well.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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>> Spikeyhead must be referring to other localities around Luton; Woburn and Ashridge arethe two main danger areas, but I've seen them around Dunstable and in other areas as well. --
Roe deer in Ashridge very nearly ended my test drive in our first BX. Damned effective demonstration of power brakes!
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Maybe they could retrain the soon to be laid off foxhounds ....
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Had more than a few stamp on the brakes moments in the wilds of Scotland...:-)
Wouldn't want to kill or injure such a beautiful animal for no good reason.
As for foxes most urban folk don't realise that the expression "as cunning as a fox" is accurate, that foxes can spread diseases and that they kill for fun just as much as for food.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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There are often dead Muntjac on the roads where I am, and also a lot of Fallow wandering around. You have to be very careful at night. I've been llucky so far.
The Muntjac bodies are frequently surrounded by various bits of broken glass and plastic trim/bumper. I stop and heave them into a field so that the Red Kites can get rid of the carcase. It's surprising how heavy they are compared to a dog of similar size.
Can't use the foxhounds for deer control I'm afraid - this barmy government have banned all hunting with dogs.
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Once saw a deer cross the M6 ahread of me, just North of Preston, it hurdled the barriers gracefully.
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Any animal should be kept securely penned if at all possible. Never had the misfortune to hit a Deer, however in the early nineties i hit a Reindeer in Norway with a substantial Lorry, damage to both was err, substantial.
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Any animal should be kept securely penned if at all possible.
Penned? A wild animal? We do share this planet.
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Re "Any animal should be kept securely penned if at all possible" made me chuckle as even the cows and sheep wander where they like in large parts of northern scotland, actually the locals in plocton and kyle are pretty upset with cows walking up their streets and doing their business everywhere, seems there are ancient rights that allow this to continue, also much more relaxed attitude to stock control on big estates than down in england as it would take the stock a long time to walk an escape and since i assume they are all branded i guess they are a bit relaxed till the time comes to get hold of them
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One jumped out in front of me a couple of weeks after I bought the C5 - I stamped on the brakes and the 'brake assistance' gadget came to life. This senses imminent disaster and automatically boosts braking effort, based on the assumption that most drivers are actually unwilling or unable to completely floor the brake pedal in an emergency. The car stopped - dead. The hazard warners automatically kicked in. Bambi escaped unscathed.
Graeme
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If you kill a deer, can you keep it for the meat or does it belong to the queen or something like that?
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Not certain, I believe that the person behind you can keep it, but not you.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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well if u have a dog in the car you could be done for hunting with dogs
and of course make sure you get your shiney new ID card if your a law abiding brit as thatll keep kpmg and others in the money for years
if you see any real crime or terrorism ask a community support officer to hold them for 30 mins
thatll sort it
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Not certain, I believe that the person behind you can keep it, but not you.
AFAIA, the law changed some time ago allowing whoever hit it to keep it. I've previously tried obtaining a link stating as such, but was never successful though.
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afaik the law hasn't changed. To kill and take game you must hold a licence, so if you pick up a deer you killed with your car, it's illegal. On the other hand you can take dead game you find, so the following driver is allowed to take the carcase.
Of course you have to be caught putting the carcase in the boot, and the chance of that happening is pretty remote.
A much worse scenario is if the deer isn't dead, just badly injured. What do you do then? We have local gun owners who also hold a game licence so we can call one of them to come out and dispatch the deer, but most people wouldn't have that and will be stuck with an unpleasant problem.
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A much worse scenario is if the deer isn't dead, just badly injured. What do you do then?
www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crime-reduction/wildlif...m
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Not long ago on a local road a driver had hit a Fallow deer so I stopped to suggest I go and get my gun. He was horrified and said no, he'd call a vet. A vet is just going to do the same thing - top it. An injured wild deer is not easy to repair and it's almost always kinder to finish it off. I wonder if the vet would hit the driver with a bill for the call out? By the way you are allowed to mercy kill an injured deer without having a game licence.
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I disagree that it is 'always kinder to finish it off' I am involved with a local wildlife rescue group here in Hampshire. They do an amazing job at nursing sick and injured animals including deer.They have a fully equipped wildlife ambulance for treating and transporting hurt and traumatised animals. These groups exist in many parts of the country and details are held by the local vets, RSPCA and police. Check out the wildlife site www.hartwildlife.org.uk.
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Intersting that the TVP link above mentions badgers. I'd not go near one unless it was very dead indeed, and certainly not if I thought it alive but wounded. They're not the cuddly Brock of story books; they have big teeth, very strong jaws and can move faster than you can.
Loss of arm a distinct possibility if you end up wrestling one.
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to say nothing of the risk of TB
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> to say nothing of the risk of TB
What does Tony have to do with costing an arm and possibly a leg? I thought that the job of fleecing motorists was given to Gordon and the Safety Partnerships.
Kevin...
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Maybe they could retrain the soon to be laid off foxhounds ....
Methinks they won't be laid off old chap!
Regards as ever. M.
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Had one too close for comfort one evening when coming home on the motorbike on the A414 in Essex a couple of years back, but still don't begrudge them their right to prosper.
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If you rent a Harley-Davidson in Wisconsin or Tennessee or similar roads in the Mid-West oftentimes it has a gadget on the crashbars intended to repel deer. I never met one so it must work (?!)
Elk are far worse, being bigger, and in Australia a monster boomer followed by his family of kangaroos of various sizes emerging from nowhere would be a bigger danger.
I have nothing against warm cuddly creatures provided they stay in Zoos, nature parks or are confined to Disney cartoons where people can oo and ah over them to their hearts' content......
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Growler is right about the roos. They can easily cause a fatal crash. Here in Australia you can get an electronic gadget to put onto the front of your car called a shoo roo. It emits a high pitched ultra sonic noise too high for humans to hear but it is supposed to scare off wild life. Quite a few of the long distance country drivers have them fitted along with roo bars and long range spot lights. There are also little pointed plastic gadgets you can get to screw onto the front bumper. They have a hole in them which is supposed to generate ultrasonic sound. These things must drive dogs mad.
With kangaroos on the road you jam the brakes on as hard as you can. The roo will often bound off across the road into the fields on the other side. Don't release the brake. The roo may circle round and come right back or else there will be another one behind him. You have to crawl through that area at about 5 miles an hour till you are well clear before you can speed up again. The worst times for them are at dusk and early morning.
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Expat,
Agree about roos, our work cars we all used mostly at dusk/night/dawn and we got about one roo strike a month in a small fleet of 5 or 6 cars. we found the shoo roo and small plastic whistles made no difference at all.
I used to aoid night time driving in my own car if possible....too risky where I lived in rural NSW.....too many eastern greys about. The problem is especially bad in drought years as it brings the roos down from the scrub to fields and road verges.
But back to the subject of deer. On arriving back in the UK in 2001 I commented to my wife how it woul be nice not to have to worry so much about driving at night again. on my first long night time trip I had two fully grown stags (fallow deer) jump onto a minor road about 20 yards in front of me. My passenger asked how I ever reacted quickly enough to stop....I explained it was due to practice on suicidal roos.
StarGazer
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My good lady hit a deer on the A339 near Alton a few years ago in a Volvo 240 (wife was in car --not the deer)Luckily the car took the impact and my wife was ok if shaken up. I rang the police to see if it was reportable but apparently hitting a deer is not in this category even though it was stone dead. The police wanted only to know the accident's exact location so they could put the carcass in the freezer!
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When i lived in Cambridgeshire, somebody once knocked on my front door in the middle of the night to say they'd hit a deer & could I help? I wandered out in my dressing gown to see a dead muntjac. 'It's dead,' I said. 'Oh poor thing,' said the driver, holding a large lump of plastic bumper in his hand, oblivious to the fact that the muntjac is not native to the UK, has no close season (unlike our native deer), and is a destructive pest - whereas he was facing an expensive repair. It was very delicious, too, that one.
Stag Hunting is being banned as well as foxhunting. Just for information, only the red deer (stag) is hunted in the UK. Hounds like foxhounds are used. When the stag is caught up with by the pack, it will turn and stand. The hounds will not attempt to kill it (they would be likely to come off worse), but will bay and wait for a trained marksman to arrive. With smaller deer, the hounds would be likely to 'have a go' but could not be guaranteed to kill it outright (unlike a fox which dies instantly) - therefore the smaller deer are not hunted.
Woburn also has another breed of deer - the Chinese Water deer. These have escaped from the park and are now causing havoc in Beds, Herts & Cambs. So those deer you see around Luton & Dunstable may not be muntjac.
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If you'd like to see well over a hundred deer grazing in the most unlikely location virtually all day long every day, come off the M25 clockwise at junction 28 (A12) and look to your left on the slip road.
Magical!
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If you'd like to see well over a hundred deer grazing in the most unlikely location virtually all day long every day, come off the M25 clockwise at junction 28 (A12) and look to your left on the slip road. Magical!
Sometimes you can see them standing on the verge, on the wrong side of the fence, as well!
My comment to SHMBO as we went past one last Christmas was to ask what colour nose it had!
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I can't think if I posted this ages ago - I don't think I have but sorry it that's untrue.
Not a deer I know but one night I had picked up my Mum and Dad and we were going home. It was around midnight and we were driving down a pretty remote, dark (no lights) and fast road. As I rounded a bend, for a split second, I saw a fox leg it across the road. Not even a hope of even reaching for the brakes - bang. Sadly, I hit it and even though it was small, the noise was horrendous - God knows what hitting a deer would be like.
Anyway, we turned around to out it's out of it's misery because it would most certainly be in pain having a car go over it. As we were going past on the other side, we saw another car go past so couldn't swerve to do it. Seeing the fox, it's back must have been broken but it was looking around (head only moving). Turned around further up wondering if I was going to be able to go through with it but thankfully, the other car must have hit it as it was pretty dead.
It does sound heartless but you can't leave it lying there awake in the dark after being hit at 60mph.
I'm hoping that's the last thing I hit....
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Adam
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