Published: November 09, 2009 02:35 pm      

John Watson: Deer carnage problem on our highways

Deer season is now on us, and the hunters will be out looking to get that trophy buck and have venison for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

Each year some animal rights activist will complain about the needless slaughter of deer by the hunters. Needless? These deer are dressed out and taken home and eaten.

The real needless slaughter of the deer takes place daily on our highways.

This was graphically brought to my attention when my son was living at San Saba.

On each trip to San Saba we would see deer that had been hit and killed by a car or truck lying along the side of the highway.

On one trip I spotted the first deer lying by the roadside just south of Hamilton. In the 80 miles from Hamilton to San Saba I counted 12 deer alongside the road.

On my trips to San Saba I learned to start watching for the deer about two hours before sunset, and they would still be out the next morning until about two hours after sunrise.

Another thing you soon learned was to keep your headlights on bright when driving at night so you could spot the deer alongside the road and be prepared to stop should one jump out in front of you.

One evening I headed back to Cleburne about 7 and just outside San Saba a deer ran out in front of me and stopped right in the middle of the road.

I stepped on my brakes and swerved to the right and just missed him. They do not seem to be afraid of anything.

My son told me that just about everyone in that area with pickups have the heavy duty brush guards on them, not necessarily for driving through brush but to protect their pickups when they hit deer.

Helen Townsend of the Lengefeld Insurance Agency in Hamilton told me that the majority of the comprehensive insurance claims that come through their office are for damages caused by hitting deer on the highway.

After checking with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department I found that they estimate there are about 26,000 to 28,000 deer killed on Texas highways each year.

These figures may be a little low because many, especially around the San Saba area, when they hit a deer will immediately put it in their truck and take it home, dress it out and put in their freezer.

I have only seen two deer alongside the road near Cleburne that had been run over. They were on U.S. 67 about a mile this side of the Somervell County line.

While visiting with Kelly Snodgrass at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Refuge near Glen Rose, Kelly told me that anytime the local sheriff or game warden finds a deer that has been killed on the highway, they take it to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Refuge for them to feed to their cheetahs and other carnivores.

While staying at a resort on Canyon Lake north of San Antonio, we saw many deer in the area but few that had been killed on the roadway — mainly because this is a residential area and the traffic is slower.

One afternoon we were driving through one of the housing developments near the lake and spotted several doe and fawn in the yards of some of the houses.

At first we thought they were statues, but as we watched they started moving on as they grazed and from time to time one of them would raise its head and look at us.

Just past the last house we saw a buck on the opposite side of the road. We stopped the car, and he just stood there and looked at us. After taking a picture we drove on and left him there.

With no fear of people or traffic, it is no wonder that so many deer are killed on our highways each year.

Texas is not the only state plagued with the problem of deer being killed on the highways. Every state with a deer population has the same problem, and it is not always deer.

While driving from Craters of the Moon National Monument to Boise, Idaho, we came upon a section of highway with a 12 foot fence on each side of the highway for about two miles.

At this point the fence dropped to a four-foot fence for several hundred yards before resuming the 12 foot height again.

Along the section of low fence there were street lights about every 100 feet. Nearby was a parking area with a placard telling about the fence.

This stretch of highway crossed the migration path of the elk from their summer grazing area in the mountains to the north to their wintering area in the valley to the south.

At one time they were having several hundred elk killed on the highway during migration season so they put the fence up.

About midway they had the low section of fence to funnel the elk through this one section.

The lights were to light the area so drivers could see the elk better at night when they did most of their migration. This cut down considerably on the loss of the elk.

It is a good idea that any time you are driving through the Hill Country or any area known to have a large deer population, slow down and drive with your lights on bright at night. This will not only help to save the deer but will also keep from damaging your car.

There is another danger to be aware of in these areas. As you top the crest of a hill buzzards could be feasting on a road kill just over the rise.

As you top the rise they will fly up right in front of you, and they have been known to crash through windshields so be alert.



Special Note: Because of a conflict in scheduling at the library, my talks on Texas history have been moved to the second Monday of the month. This month’s subject will be “The Spanish Influence on Texas.” The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Cleburne Public Library. Everyone is invited.



John Watson is a Cleburne resident who can be reached at texastraveler@sbcglobal.net.