Deer Repellent

[guest]

I was reading up on the awful things that a deer and other animals can do to a truck and I have the following questions:

Do those little things they sell in catalogs and truck stops that you put on the bumper and are advertised as keeping deer away really do anything?

In the event that a person had a second or two notice of a deer in the road, would flashing the brights (or dimming the brights) break the "deer in the headlights" spell? What about honking the horn if you could? Will that un-freeze them?

Other than getting one of those cool Road Warrior Roo Shredders, are there any other things that can be done to keep deer from getting in front of your truck?

I heard somewhere that if you smeared some Lucas oil additive on the front of your truck, the deer would just slide right off.

 

[DannyD]

Hiya Mike,

I'm not sure about the Lucas oil. I can tell you that the high pitched whistles & such give drivers a false sense of security. I know of a few people who have used those & still hit deer (or deer hit them).

I'm not sure about every product out there, but I'd be inclined to think they're more likely to not work than to work.

If you have a second or two, the best thing to do would be to slow down. Keep going straight when you do this. Under no circumstances do you want to swerve. Flashing the brights, even on/off rapidly is more likely to stun them more than wake them up.

The honking the horn is an interesting point. I would think that tapping on/off the horn lightly might perk them up w/out startling them, allowing them to run off. Laying on the horn I would think startle them.

I guess the best thing I would say to do is to slow down when you're in an area that you've seen deer in before. Another thing I do in these areas, & I reconize that the deer could avoid the truck & run into me, but is to get behind a semi. Not as in tailgate them, but as in a safe distance behind. I'm slowing down anyways so why not have a little bit of a shield? (the big rig people outta LOVE me for this one)

Now, I almost hesitate writing this thinking giving these thoughts is going to jinx me. :7 I've been right behind a guy who collided w/ a deer & I have to admit if I was in his spot I'd have hit it too. He did everything right & the thing still ran into him. Sometimes no matter what ya do it's not enough.

Best of luck to ya,
Danny

ps: a lot of wehicle/deer acidents are because of the deer running into the side of vehicle.

 

[redytrk]

I dont know about Deer,but if you blow the horn at a moose he will most likely charge at you.

 

[RichM]

Nothing like having a 2,000 pound moose charging at you,saw one in Maine once I stopped real fast to let himn cross the road and in the middle he stopped and looked at the truck,wonder what was going through his mind.

 

[guest]

I'll throw this in because it is sort of relevant to the topic. When I was a kid my dad went deer hunting and on the way to the deer lease hit a deer with his pickup, killing a nice sized deer (with a nice rack) and tearing the crap out of the front of his Toyota pickup, although it was still driveable. When he came home he had the deer in the back of his truck and he was understandably frustrated that his truck had been wrecked. I, on the other hand, was elated, thinking to myself what good luck it was to bag such a great looking deer. After all, he WAS deer hunting.

I did a quick search (Google "avoiding deer" and "highway") and found the following information about avoiding deer collisions. One link has per state deer collision statistics. Apparently, most of the collisions happen between 6pm and midnight and around sunrise. That's good to know, I suppose. But I wonder if that is based more on the volume of traffic than the number of deer standing in the road. I didn't see any surprising information, other than the number of collisions (51,000 in Georgia; 20,000 in New Jersey).

http://www.financialwheel.com/content/view/8/2

http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/lifesaving/deercar/

Here is a an electronic product that apparently works like a whistle on steroids and seems to have good results for some people (I have no affiliation with this product, it just came up in my search):

http://www.americanhornet.com/index.html

 

[Drluvv]

I hope none of you guys have an incounter with a deer, moose, or anything that isn't the pavement, but if your driving down the road doing 50 to 70 mph, depending on how far away the deer is, it might not be able to get out of the way in time. The best thing I could suggest is to invest in a really strong steel brush gaurd for your truck like the ones found on Australian trucks. It beats greasing up the truck bumper.LOL

 

[mvbn1]

Well, first of all, don't put those little whistles on backwards. It will draw the deer right to you!

...and if you try to get out of their way, they keep trying to run in front of you. Kinda like whales beaching themselves. Push'm back in the water, and they head straight back to the beach.

My suggestion: HIT THE DEER! KILL THE DEER! KILL ALL THE DEER... oh. Sorry. Got carried away.

 

[Lawrence]

Moose + a car + 65 MPH = bad news.

http://www.thejump.net/humor/car1.jpg

http://www.thejump.net/humor/moose-car.jpg

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com


Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

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[The Gibster]

OK, I don't want to sound like a snake-oil salesman, or a UFO spotter, but I think I've stumbled onto an actual deer warning/repellant system:

Since we've had our truck we have noticed deer actually run from the truck as it approached, others (especially right along the side of the road) usually look up before we get close and then freeze, and in groups we see one or two look up and watch us as the others graze.

We couldn't figure it out for the longest time, and I'm still not sure, but I think this is it! First - the truck:

*2000 FL70 with the big above cab top and AA Sleeper, QC mounted dead center top/front of box. Different CB antennas and TV antennas and sat radio antennas on mirrors, dual airhorns with covers, and one AM/FM on drivers side of the 'bigtop'. NO DEER WARNING DEVICES. So I thought something has got to be whistling, getting their attention.

Then I figured it out - we have the piece of PVC pipe on the right mirror for hanging our satellite dish on the mirror bracket. It's what, 2 inches in diameter, and maybe 30" long? I surmised the pipe was it, it's the noise maker!

OK, here's the proof - go to Gander Mt, or Outdoor World or Cabellas or even WalMart and grab the Moose/Elk call (the long tube) away from Bubba scaring the kids with it and swing it around. **The air going over the end makes a horn sound, and the faster you go the different the sound.** And it's just about the size of our PVC pipe!

It's a sound the deer can understand - a GREAT BIG ELK is about to come down the road to stomp them and take back their territory.

Hey, it's science. And I don't fool with Mother Nature. I dated her daughter one time . . .but that's a different story.

Look, the PVC is about the only thing I can figure is doing it, but it works!

The Gibster

(Hey look, there's Elvis!)

 

[bryan]

Hi
I,ve found that deer alerts work. Just read the directions and make sure you put them on right. They make the deer stop where he is at, so if he's standing in the middle of the road when you first see him he'll still be there when you get there.

 

[highway star]

I have talked to many people who, like bryan, feel that the whistles work. I am skeptical. I live in northern Mich and most of the time I go to and from home during peak deer hours. I have'nt hit a deer in 15 years. My feeling is you should just go by them being prepared to stop. I think any flashing of lights or horn honking will make them want to move when they otherwise would just have stood there. When they do move they have no sense at all about where they will go.

 

[vipra]

Hi Friscomike, Yes, those deer whistles for sale in truck stops work great. Most deer I see now run away as I approach, which is something I'd never seen before putting on the whistle. I recommend them highly- they're only $7 for a pair, and I only put one on my van at a time. The least they'll do is save you lots of money for repairs, they may even keep you from being injured or killed.
Vipra

 

[Marty]

Studies by insurance companies have shown that deer wistles can make a deer run. Problem is that sometimes they run away from you and sometimes they run towards you.
The best way to avoid hitting deers on the road is to get a local job hauling within the city limits of New York City.

 

[The Gibster]

Then you'll need Hooker whistles.

No, wait, that doesn't work. Never mind:7

 

[Broompilot]

My 2 pennies. I was a salesman for in Western Michigan 15 years, traveled through many of National Forest home to big deer and I mean big. Never hit one but some Angel was looking out for me. I could tell stories.

Deer when blowing my two Air Horns do nothing, do not look up when they are grazing. So the horn does not work. My truck whistles like Dixie, between the CB Antenas and the design of my mirriors its annoying to drive with windows lower than half.

Bright lights nothing either just makes them freeze.

Two months ago comming out of Tulsa on a two laner to KC, long straight stretch could see for miles. Truck in front of me and this was the only time I ever passed anyone, got by him signal to come over and out runs a deer, my option of braking was taken away due to a truck behind me. From somewhere the deer changes direction I am now running it down as he seems to be running away from me doing what seemed like 40mph and I am gaining on him at 60 mph just as I thought I was gona hear THUD he high tails it back in the same direction he came from. I checked both my seat and bumper at my next opportunity. I asked over the CB to the other driver who by the way told me to pass him if he saw that and he missed the whole thing. In the last place I expected to see a deer is where this happened. Low bush big farm fiels no tree breaks nothing but low bush 60 yards both sides of the road.

Drive safe and break except when the truck behind you is bigger than you.

 

[RichM]

Deer can hurt your truck,but a bear can do you in. I actually saw a real bear in the middle of US 30 near Breezewood PA one time. I had a haz/mat load and had to bypass the tunnels. He/She, was walking across the road just ambling along. No way i would have exited the truck in that area.

 

[dieseldoctor1]

Our dealership repaired quite a few trucks after collisions with deer. I used to have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing when the customer said "be sure and replace the deer whistles and have the insurance company pay for them".
Now I never had to fix a truck after hitting a moose or bear but the worst damage I ever saw from an animal collision was one of our fully loaded feed trucks going about 60 MPH hit a boar hog one night. It was estimated the hog weighed about 500 lbs. Truck was totalled. Broke the motor mounts loose and the engine put a new dog house in the floor of the cab all the way to the back wall. The front cross member in the frame was driven back so hard it hit the vibration dampener hard enough it drove the crankshaft back and cracked the thrust bearing web in the block. Hog had his back end toward the truck and it dead centered the truck. He went right between the frame rails and they had to use the wreaker to pull him out if the truck lol. Driver got a broke leg from the the engine intrusion into the cab. It was a 2574 International long wheel base tandem.

Dieseldoctor

 

[trhoades]

I used to drive for SWIFT(hold the jokes please), all of their trucks had those deer whistles. As cheap as SWIFT is, I would think they work. I don't see SWIFT paying 5-10 dollars for each of their 15,000 trucks if they didn't.

I'm sure there have been incidents where a deer has hit a vehicle with the whistles, but I've also seen the occasional person walk in front of moving vehicle, too. So, I'm sure there is an occasional retarded deer as well.

 

[dukesadog]

Just so you know the state of Michigan will no longer pick up dead deer or animals on the road, supposed to save them 2 million bucks a year. if they would just die and fall in the pot holes no one would notice.

I realize this isnt a deer related story but someone I know saw a wild Turkey north of Grand Rapids MI one day and blew his air horn at it only to have a whole flock come out of the trees and through his windshield. Horn blowing is bad.. at least for turkeys

dukesadog