If Virginia’s deer hunters are having as good of a year as the car drivers, they’ll have a record year.
I have never seen so many dead deer on highways. Ever. We drove to Urbanna and back a couple weeks ago and there were dead animals every 5 or so miles along I-64. Daily, I see new carcasses on my 10-mile drive from Charlottesville to Ruckersville along 29 North. Just yesterday, the car in front of me ran into a deer on Route 29. The car had no chance and the deer had no chance. There have always been deer killed on our highways, but not like this.
The problem is twofold – there are a lot of deer and they’re not paying attention. The rut is still in progress, meaning the bucks are chasing and the unwilling does the deer are running away, and if there happens to be a Nissan Sentra heading down the highway, so be it.
It is really hard to get a handle on exactly how many deer fall to car bumpers in a single year. Unless a car has damage, the accident is not reported. The car in front of me did not stop and it looked like he hit the deer with his bumper, so probably no one will ever know. I bet there are 50,000 deer in Virginia killed by automobiles. It’s a shame hunters couldn’t harvest the deer so they wouldn’t be wasted.
The rut should be over soon, but in the meantime, pay attention. The deer are on the move.
