Deer (in the U.S.) are more dangerous than snakes...interesting statistic

"Forget sharks and bears – it’s deer that you should worry about hurting you" By Forrest Brown, CNN

https://www.cnn.com/travel/deer-deadly-vehicles-collision/index.html




Mostly this article is not about snakes, but I thought this mention was interesting to share with snake-fearing acquaintances: (excerpt)

Even people who realize how common deer-vehicle collisions are might be surprised at these startling stats for the United States from this November 2022 study in the journal Cell Biology:
• Around 2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually.
• The collisions cause more than $10 billion in economic losses annually.
• Each year, they account for some 59,000 human injuries and 440 human deaths.

Kip Adams, chief conservation officer with the National Deer Association, notes that deer are much more deadly to Americans each year than those scary movie and TV threats – sharks, alligators, bears and venomous snakes – combined. (For instance, there were just two deaths in the United States by shark attack in 2023.)
Looks like we should be much more wary of Bambi than of Jaws.

Between us my husband and I have hit nine deer over the last 15 years, with a lot more close calls than that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

Between us my husband and I have hit nine deer over the last 15 years, with a lot more close calls than that.

---

Ouch! There's plenty of collisions where I am too, but I'm happy to NOT be in one of top states for this. So far, I've had no collisions, but my next door neighbors totaled their car this way, & many other locals have too.

As the article pointed out, time of day & time of year can have a big impact (no pun intended :rolleyes: ) with the worst times being around dawn & dusk since deer are crepuscular, & fall being the worst season. So for people who must commute to work during those hours, they run a higher risk.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

Between us my husband and I have hit nine deer over the last 15 years, with a lot more close calls than that.

---

It's not you, it's West Virginia:

https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/f...cle-collisions

Here's another excerpt from the article I posted above: (it concurs that W. Virginia is the "winner")

Some US states have a bigger problem with deer-vehicle collisions than others.
State Farm compiles annual statistics assessing the risk in each state. While the insurance company’s statistics cover all animal-vehicle collisions, deer account for the majority of them.
Seventeen states are considered “high risk” for an animal-vehicle collision, according to the latest State Farm report for 2023-24.
Topping the list is West Virginia, where drivers have a 1 in 38 annual risk of being in an animal-involved claim, State Farm says.
That’s not surprising to Adams. The Mountain State is filled with forests, has a high deer population and lacks much in the way of dense urban areas.
“They have a lot of winding roads through wooded areas which further reduces the visibility. A lot of factors play together there that definitely put West Virginia at the top,” Adams said.
Rounding out the top 5 states are:
No. 2: Montana (1 in 53 chance)
No. 3: Pennsylvania (1 in 59 chance)
No. 4: Michigan (1 in 60 chance)
No. 5: Wisconsin (1 in 60 chance)
Your best bets to avoid colliding with an animal: Nevada, where State Farm says the chance is just 1 in 770, and Hawaii (1 in 710 chance).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

It's not you, it's West Virginia:

https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/f...cle-collisions

---

Actually only two of the collisions were in WV. The rest were in VA and MD. The one in MD caused the most damage, I was rolling a good 55 mph at time of impact. Caused about $2500 in damage to my Suburban and I never bothered fixing the cosmetic damage.

My last hit turned out to be $9000, but a lot of that was safety sensors (that incidentally didn't help me to not hit the deer). That's kind of the norm with newer cars, I think.

This discussion reminds me of Key Deer -- a really small population/subspecies in the Fl. Keys that's endangered. I've driven down to Key West a couple times, and the 2-3 mile stretch through the reserve area on Big Pine Key is pretty weird. There's 8 foot fence on both sides of the road, and cattle-guard type inserts in the roads at intersections, and a 35 mph night speed limit with about a thousand signs reminding you. Here's some photos of that stretch:

https://www.marcelhuijserphotography...y-deer-florida

And some more of the rest of the area, including the abundant signs:

https://www.marcelhuijserphotography...05f0#hb8b005f0

That's apparently what it takes to try to stop deer from getting hit.