Deer accidents jump this time of year

This is the second-worst time of year for car-deer collisions, and the Department of Natural Resource’s Terry Little says if you’ve “run into” an Iowa whitetail, you’re not alone. There are 10-thousand to 13-thousand deer road-killed in crashes reported each year, and probably many more that only injure the animal. Little says a car-deer crash is not likely to be a fatal one, for the driver of the car. Most that kill the deer also damage the vehicle, but most don’t involve injury to the human as long as they don’t have a crash trying to miss the animal. It’s probably not a record, but he says it’s about the population level game wardens try to keep, with deer in just about all the state’s wooded areas. Little says it’s fawning season, and last year’s young ones are being driven away by their mothers as new offspring arrive. The biggest danger is not paying attention, or seeing one deer and not realizing there may be more. If the road-kill is properly reported, the driver’s allowed to tag and keep the deer, though Little says many, especially non-hunters, aren’t interested.