Hunting season is here and so is peta (Portland: homes, buying)

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by broadbill

actually, I live here...and compared to other places I've lived, there aren't that many deer here (probably because of the harsh winter last year). I'm sure its different in other places in Maine though. Now turkeys are a different story...at least where I live.

I was questioning the conclusion that deer are inherently deadly. It is people who have decreased the habitat of the whitetail deer with their roads and subdivisions. Decreased habitat mean more deer per square mile. More deer per square mile mean more interaction of deer with people (this this case, people driving in their cars). You could make the same case for an oak tree on the side of the road....it is deadly because we built a road next to it and somebody drove their car into it.

Now, before you make me a target of MHAPPI or whatever you call it, I'm all for hunting in these areas to remove overpopulated deer. IF you an do it safely.

But to blame deer, or beaver, or moose, as being "deadly" and for having the nerve to stand in the middle of the road waiting to ambush you and crash your car into them....well, I have to say that we all need to have a little more personal responsibility and make sure everyone gets home safe...we are the ones driving the car. In this equation, I would consider the car to be more deadly than the animal in the road.

have you ever hit a deer or a moose.it isnt like we go out of our way to do it.deer and moose are unpredictable you can be driveing along and pow one will jump the ditch and land in the road right in front of you.no time to do any thing but pile on the breaks and hold on.whay i think you should do to get the whole scope of what people are saying is jump in your car and drive to haynsville around 6pm there is a good chance youl be walking home if your not in the hospital.

[mollysmiles]

or a hearse....

[broadbill]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

obviously you live in the southern part of the state.... you moved here without realizing that while you may be in the more populated area of the state, wildlife should still cause you to be attentive. If you would have moved further north, someone you met would have told you about this danger.

Deer are deadly, and I have known people killed in accidents *caused* by DEER, and MOOSE, not through any fault of their own. The simple fact that you believe that these collisions can be avoided worries me. That means that you're driving roads at dusk and dawn and all hours in between without looking to the sides of that road for wildlife. That could cost you your life here, as well as the lives of any passengers in your vehicle, or oncoming vehicles.

This isn't some "let's protect bambi" discussion, or some "but they're so pretty don't shoot them" discussion. It's about *human* lives that are lost because the wildlife get in the road. A more populated, meaning density, area is not necessarily less inhabited by wildlife either. Eastport has a huge deer problem, and has a small area of land with a decent population for that land. You talk about roads and subdivisions as if they're everywhere in Maine.... you're sorely misinformed about that. Maine is predominantly rural, and is huge. The idea that deer have lost their habitat through much of the state and that's why they're in our roads is simply outrageous!

I did move to the sounthern part of the state and realize that deer are more prevalent in the northern section.

Deer aren't deadly, the same way guns aren't deadly. A deer standing in the road in the middle of the night isn't deadly. Add a person coming down the road in a car and it becomes deadly. A gun sitting on the counter isn't deadly. Add a curious toddler to the mix and it becomes deadly.

It is a simple fact that people can lower their chances of hitting a deer. They can always drive slower. As a motorist, you are responsible for safely getting to your destination. There are plenty of irresponsible dingbat driving cars our there, but that doesn't make you less responsible for avoiding an accident. Some accidents do happen and are unavoidable, but less would happen if people slowed down. Just about EVERY traffic study implicates speed as being a factor in accidents. If this simple fact is lost on you, that worries ME.

I didn't say I thought Maine was full of subdivisions...but please feel free to twist my words around any way you like!

However, development that encroach on wildlife habitat does increase the interaction of deer with people. Whether development is occurring in the part of the state that you live is unimportant. My point when ever humans develop the land, even to put in a road, interaction between animal and human does become more likely. The animal is often times too stupid to get out of the way and its becomes the human responsiblity to make sure they get home safely.

Its not fair but that's the way it is.

[broadbill]

Originally Posted by RANGER.101ST

no time to do any thing but pile on the breaks and hold on.

sounds like you were going too fast...maybe you should slow down where you know there are deer or moose?

[AlisonL]

My husband used to live in a tiny town near Howland. He saw a lot of moose there. BUT, he saw many more on the turnpike in the Gray area when he was going to and from work. Hit a moose in the dark and you probably won't live to tell about it.
We lived in a small town in Maine and had a herd of deer that lived in our back woods. It was part of their trail in the 20 yrs we lived there. Yes they got hit because they would dart out in front of a car. Animals don't have the concept of looking both ways before they cross the road.
There is a reason the state has put up signs warning of deer and moose crossings.

[mollysmiles]

you are so not listening to anything we're saying....

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by broadbill

sounds like you were going too fast...maybe you should slow down where you know there are deer or moose?

How can you slow down when you are driving at reasonable rate of speed, and then the deer runs right out in front of you. Obviously you have yet to have that happen. And it will. Try to see a moose in the dark. They are so tall that you cannot see the reflection of their eyes. And, they have dark bellies, not white like a deer.
Best of luck to you when a deer or moose runs out in front of your car, which will happen. Doesn't matter if one is going 20 mph or 60 mph.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by broadbill

sounds like you were going too fast...maybe you should slow down where you know there are deer or moose?

your talking to the wrong person when it comes to hitting deer.i have hit so many deer in my life that i could have fed the state of maine.i have hit deer in allmost every state in the us and some in canada.i hit a deer i collage park merryland once on rt1 it come out of a days inn parking lot jumpt over a small honda civic in the right lane and landed in my lane right in front of me.so what do you do then genious. i no what i did i hit it when i got the truck stoped it had been hit by 3 more cars.

[broadbill]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

you are so not listening to anything we're saying....

likewise.

[AlisonL]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

you are so not listening to anything we're saying....

Hopefully when he hits one, he will be around to listen. Having the body of a deer or moose coming through one's windshield is not something I want to experience! And definitely wouldn't want to hit one with a motorcycle!