It was a dark, and rainy night......

[Mike]

Night driving. The driving time we all dread, when RVers are most vulnerable to collisions with wildlife.
Has anyone tried any of the animal deterrent systems available?
Have you ever come close to hitting a deer, moose, wolf, etc.....? We saw some deer in WV on the shoulder of US19.
Do the whistles, and sonic systems work, or have you tried them, or thought about it?
I've seen some self-stick bumper whistles on the internet. No idea if they work or if they should?

We're off soon, and appreciate your input or opinions,
Mike.

[renrut]

Night driving is bad. I hit a rabbit with my motorcycle while driving through the Rockies. It hit my boot so I was lucky. If I hit it with my front tire, that could have been bad since I was going around a curve. I hit a deer in Northern Michigan with my Jeep. It was nicely walking at the side of the road when it bolted in front of me. I went right over it. Someone was shooting a rifle in the wooded area next to the road and spooked the deer. There was no damage to my Jeep because the deer tripped and fell just before I hit it. Needless to say, it was quite dead.

I've seen those ultra sonic things you place on the front of a vehicle. I've heard both sides of them. Some swear by them others don't. The ones that don't like them say they make the animals freeze in front of you and not scare them off the road.

Personally, I look for shining things at in front of me. Almost every animal will hear you coming and look to see what the noise is. If you're lucky, you will pick up their eyes in front of you.

The worst night driving I've ever done is driving through Maine during the ice storm of 97/98. The entire state was blacked out and everything was covered with about an inch of ice. We could see blue glowing in the sky as transformers blew up but either than that, it was quite an experience.

[Barman]

I am absolutely convinced that they do not work. My fishing buddy and I drive from Ohio to North Carolina twice a year for a week or so to go fishing. We tow a boat, and thought we should try the little ones that were on the front bumper, figuring that towing a boat our stopping distance is increased dramatically. Many times over the years we have still had some close calls with deer. I wouldn't waste my money on them. Other than driving as cautious as possible, what seems to have worked for me several times is honking my horn. They seem to respond to that better than the silent whistles. Just my 2-cents worth.

[Ron J. Moore]

I live in a really rural area and we have plenty of deer, rabbit, etc running on the roads; I also have the gizmos on my front bumper. Neither my wife or I have ever hit any - but wouldn't give credit to the gizmos; believe I have been just lucky. I find it funny in the directions for installing, they tell you which one has to be on what side of the vehicle.....oh yeah!! Ron

[Barman]

Ron
It's nice to hear from you. We attended the RT rally with you at Indian Creek a few years ago. Steve & Chris from Ohio and wanting to move to Virginia. It sounds like your gizmos work about like ours. By luck! Take care and great to hear from you. Hope your health is doing well.

[daytripper]

I have had a similar experience We hit a deer on the way home once that was horrible . Luckily it didnt mount the bonnet of the van but could have been bad for us!

[VernM]

A conservation officer once told me why the deer seem to run into you. They see their moving shadow thrown from your headlights and want to run away from it. Won't solve hitting one if you're inb the wrong place at wrong time, but might lead one to slow down where deer might be present. And remember that many are more than one, even if you didn't see the fawn or females following the guy with the big rack.

[renrut]

Years ago, I use to travel on Michigan Road 28 (North of Hwy 2 next to Lake Superior) and it was very dangerous. In the summer, it was common to see herds of deer all over the road. When I traveled at night, I had to slow down, sometimes to 40mph or less. From what I understand, the animals come out to the roads to get away from black flies and mosquitoes.

[Barman]

Back in the 80s, while flying as an USAF crew member on C-130s, we were landing up in Alpena Michigan at night, and we had to make passes over the air field we wanted to land on, just to scare away the herds of deer that would be standing on the run way. It was amazing to be on final approach for landing, and see eyeballs every where you looked. One of our aircraft actually hit 5 deer while trying to land. You talk about a mess!

[VernM]

Barman, you are absolutely right. As another Alpena "visitor," I recall our Iowa Air Guard unit starting each workday of summer TDY with a run up and down that runway in a vehicle with a siren after dawn to chase the deer away. They liked sleeping on that warm tarmac, dontchaknow.

[renrut]

They had problems with deer at the Winnipeg Manitoba International airport. I remember working on a DC-3 around 87 and seeing deer next to the active runway. I quickly contacted tower over the radio and they brought all kinds of vehicles to get the deer away. They eventually had to put up two 12ft fences 8ft apart to keep the deer out. Anything shorter, they just jumper over. I can only imagine the cost of fencing in the entire airport. The double fencing was only required where the deer were though.

[T.Low]

Deer whistles are mounted to shew the deer away...be careful not to mount them backwards, then they draw the deer in.