Deer by the road...Why?

[Acpantera]

Two things I hate to see on the road, salt and deer. Living in the snow belt of the north east I can't stand to see the over dosage of salt on the roads. I know we need to make the roads safe in the winter, and salt is a cheap and plentiful substance, but the destruction of our vehicles, roads and bridges seems to take the value away.
Now that being said, I also like to watch deer in the wild, but when they infest the roadways, they pose very serious hazard. After killing one on the thruway at 70mph with my trusty R1200R I really became paranoid of their proximity to the road.
Until recently, I never thought of the reason why these large mammals like to hang out by the road side. in november I was talking to a guy from california while at the F-1 race in Austin. We were swapping motorcycle stories and he explained that deer have a natural craving for salt and the salted vegetation at the road side is real yummy to the beasts.
As I digested this theory, I became furious that in the name of safety, we pour salt on the roads in the wintertime and have to deal with the russian roullet of driving through herds of salt crazed deer all year round!
So lets recap, the salted roads cause our vehicles to corrode at a rapid pace, cause damage to our roads and bridges, and attract deer to the road side that threaten our lives and cause even more damage to our vehicles.
It would be wise to come up with another substance or method that we could use to melt snow and Ice??? I think it would worth some extra coin to find a solution, I'm sure we would save a lot in lives and property. Just my rant. thanks

[Catchina]

I never equated salt on roads with attracting deer but it makes sense in a weird way. I had a deer come very close to hitting me while I was riding last month, it jumped right in front of me but this was before any salt had been used.

[Buckster]

I saw four deer by the side of the road late last night on I-295. They just seemed to be hanging out and not trying to cross the road. My horn didn't even phase them. No salt here.

[Acpantera]

Virginia doesn't use salt at all??http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin ... alt-27855/
What I'm trying to say is that the salting of the road "seasons" the vegetation as it grows, making it more appealing to the deer year round.

[mogu83]

Don't know about the salt. The heaviest deer infestation I've seen, and I live in Southern Jersey, is Rt95 through South Carolina. At night their all over the side of the road, although you see a surprisingly small amount of road kill. I guess their smarter then the Jersey deer that seem to delight in playing on the pavement.

[BigEasy]

Deer, like most other wildlife like "edges" or transition zones going from one type of habitat to another. In the instace of roads they are (as an example) feeding in the grass strip adjacent to a wood line. That's the "edge".

In the farm country of the midwest this is really demonstrable in wood lots next to crop fields as well as roads. If you go into a wood lot about 10 steps and turn to face the field or road you will routinely find a beat down travel path parralleling the edge of the wood lot. Add to the travel path parralleling the woods/road edge on both sides of the road and the pretty large range area of the little timber goats and you start to get an idea of why you see so many along the road.

Also the amount of hunting pressure in a given area will have a direct effect on the number you see along the roads. In the counties surrounding Indianapolis, for instance, you see a far larger number of road kills than is some of the more rural (and financially depressed) counties further out. The counites closer to the big town (relative I know) land owners are more reluctant to allow hunting thereby reducing hunting influenced population control. As you get further out into country land owners want you to kill the deer as they have a severe impact on crops/$$$. Add to that the existance of people subsistance hunting and the deer number go way down.

I used to hunt on a piece of property that wqas owned by a guy who despised what the deer did to his corn crop. He required the guys he allowed to hunt on his property to kill a doe before you could kill a buck. His reasoning was for every doe not killed in the fall there would be at least one if not two more deer eating his spring planting. Kill the does, reduce the potential for reproduction.

Alright, that got a little long winded, sorry Food for thought

[Acpantera]

The hanging out by the edges thing makes a lot of sense. The one thing that doesn't jive is, why would a skittish creature like a deer,who if it catches a sent of, or hears a hunter tip toeing through the woods and runs for cover, this same animal enjoys the noisy and stinky area of a highway.

[BigEasy]

Your sig line is very telling, are you an engineer by chance

I can't even begin to get an answer for that. I have pulled up in a truck along side the road or into a field to watch deer do what they do and they will routinely ignore the vehicle and go on about their business. As soon as you open the door and step out they are gone like a lightening bolt. I guess they do not associate a predatory threat with the vehicle, and aren't bright enough to associate predators with vehicles, just a guess.

I once worked with a guy who farmed part time. After harvest was over he would park a combine in the corner of one of his fields and use it as a "blind" for deer hunting. He killed a bunch of deer out of that thing.

[wncbmw]

Both the salt and edge vegetation thing make sense. I know guys use salt blocks (illegally!) to attract deer for hunting and remember my wildlife courses from college to know the edges of woods and open areas are prime wildlife habitat.

But the bottom line around here and along the eastern seaboard is there are just too many of the things! No real natural predators any more and not as many hunters. Heck, you can ride is certain areas any more at 2 in the afternoon and look off to the woods and see deer all the time. Used to, you only had to worry about them at dusk, night and early morning!

[Biff's R]

Another thing is that the expansion of some cities and towns has locked in certain deer populations. There are some herds of 40 or more roaming the village next to me, and they are having to hire hunters to thin the herds in areas where hunting isn't allowed.

[angellr]

Another thing is that the expansion of some cities and towns has locked in certain deer populations. There are some herds of 40 or more roaming the village next to me, and they are having to hire hunters to thin the herds in areas where hunting isn't allowed.

There is a herd of deer that live in the cemetery next to me that have been there a long time. They seem to also be land locked, however, the wild is not that far off (ie. the mountains) - maybe less than 2 miles? Interesting creatures.

[captaincable]

Deer graze and move at the same time generally following the same routes. I don't think even if you had sweet feed and salt blocks set out will they stay long, a few bites and they move on unless there is no other food source. I am constantly on the lookout for them as well as other critters in this neck of the woods (N.E. Georgia) I occasionally see scrapes in the woods where they tear the ground up, I am assuming some kind of mineral is in the soil. As I set here and type it has occurred to me that most of my neighbors have hit a deer at least once in the past few years, I hit one a few years ago in my truck and have had at least 20 close calls in the past two years on my bike and countless in my truck.Most of the time it has been at twilight.This has been for the most part in rural areas.Sure does keep me on my toes and not so much on the throttle. Ride Safe and keep your eyes open. BTW I have noticed more deer movement early am when there is a sharp cold front .Mike

[BigEasy]

I occasionally see scrapes in the woods where they tear the ground up, I am assuming some kind of mineral is in the soil. .Mike

Hey Mike, a scrape is not a feeding spot, it is a mating season territorial sign post. Bucks will paw that ground up then urinate in the scrape. Typically there is a licking branch hanging over the scrape that the deer will lick and rub with their forehead glands. Both of these are scent sign posts to warn other bucks of his presence as well as letting the does know he is in the area.

More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer#Marking

Yeah I used to spend a lot of time hunting the frustrating little critters

[Rider Rick]

A poster above mentioned "edge" areas, I have seen this many times in the past 45 years of eating them, it is definitely true. As to why, salt has been mentioned, that could be, but also on any edge along a wooded area, grasses grow better where there is more sunlight, so along the edges where the sun can reach the ground better than wooded areas, you will typically find more green grazing.

[Acpantera]

Not to beat a dead horse (or deer in this case). I live in the suburbs and it is a 10 mile ride into work at 3am, all the roads are two lane(35mph) residential types with some open lots. On average I would say that most the homes sit close to the middle of their 100'x200'est lot. It still blows my mind why these deer tend to hang by the curbs(looks like they are waiting for a bus) rather than in the middle of the lots or their edge lines. I have also spotted the beasts in the thruway median and closer to the roadways edge than the tree lines.

[omg1010]

In our area (Taunus mountain area) we have a lot of deer and wild boar and every year we had bad accidents on some mainroads. Problem is that there are no predators around hence hunting is the only way to keep the population low. As a result some main roads have been fenced to keep these beasts away from the road.

The main problem for motorcyclists in our area however is .... you may have guessed ... fellow motorcyclists who believe they are on a racetrack and cause terrible accidents.

Brgds
Oliver