"DEER ANGEL"

The more I researched and tried to come up with a solution to remove the poor dear across from the house the more I learned some interesting facts. See below. I also realized that even if I was willing to go touch the thing to move it into the ditch I would likely not be strong enough to drag it. Nick is in no position to help as he is having some major back issues at the moment. So what to do. . . Saturday we took a little trip to an apple orchard (despite the very cool, wet and windy day). I will share more on that little excursion in a different post. We were gone for maybe 5 hrs. When we left the deer was still sleeping peacefully across the street. Upon our return I looked, and looked and triple looked. It was GONE! I looked in the ditch all along the area and NO DEER! I’m so happy for whoever the DEER ANGEL was that came and removed it. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! That made my day!

So here are some interesting tidbits (or I thought they were) I have learned over this past week.

Last year (2007), there were 61,907 reported car-deer crashes in Michigan, up from 60,875 reported the previous year. However, as many as half of all car-deer crashes may not be reported, so actual numbers may be much higher. Last year, 11 motorists lost their lives in car crashes, while another 1,614 persons were injured. In 2006, 12 motorists were killed and 1,676 were injured in similar crashes.

Just for the sake of comparison, in Utah between 1996 – 2001 there were a total of 13,020 deer related collisions.

According to State Farm's claim statistics, we have lived in two of the top three states with the most deer crashes. In order they are: (taken from information between June 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006)

1. Pennsylvania
2. Michigan
3. Illinois

80 percent of all car-deer crashes occur on two-lane roads between dusk and dawn. Actually I knew this one. You do train yourself to look well ahead and for those glowing deer eyes reflecting off the headlights, especially if you are out at these times. One of the crossroads nearest us is Deerfield. There is a reason it is named this!

Michigan has a 1.75 million-strong deer herd. The population of residents is well over 10 million. So we still outnumber the deer but that is an amazing number.

About 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions happen each year in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those accidents cause about 150 deaths and $1.1 billion in property damage annually, according to NHTSA (who by the way Nick interviewed with at the same time he interviewed for his current position).

So 1.1 Billion a year! SO here is the question of the day. How many hungry people could be fed from all the deer that are hit? Not that I would want to eat it (although some deer meat isn’t too bad) nor do I think it would be realistic to retrieve all of them without other costs. But thinking of the current economic conditions it just makes me think. I did learn that the neighboring county accepts and appears to help pick up deer (within a 50 mile radius) as long as they are gutted first. They have an agency who then processes the meat, packages it for the freezer and is stored to give to families needing help from the food pantry. I actually called and talked with them. They said that they receive a lot of protein that is not perishable such as peanut butter or beans. So the deer donations have been greatly appreciated as they were able to give meat to many families who "rarely have any".

OH DEER!

I must preface this blog entry by saying I still think Michigan is a great place to live. There is lots of wildlife and I have become immune to MOST of the road kill that you see on a very regular basis both big and small. It is when the road kill becomes too close to my personal space that it bothers me. I did not enjoy the possum that landed in our driveway last year. For those of you with weak stomachs you might not want to read further. I don’t remember what we did with the possum (actually I can’t say WE because there is no way I would have touched the thing – even with a shovel). However, the possum tail was severed and that remained on our driveway for a really long time. Our driveway is not some nicely paved or cemented surface but mostly dirt and gravel. The gravel varies in quality and size along the drive but that is a completely different story. So the tail kind of blended in with everything else until I would go out to get the mail. YUCK! There was a day when this wouldn’t have bothered me either.

So the latest road kill is just too much for me. The very peaceful, not so alive deer you see in this picture makes me kind of sad. In fact it’s almost too disturbing to me. The deer is actually across the street. The property across the street from us is lined with wild growing vegetation, an overgrown ditch filled with our neighbors leaves and then beyond that the ground is farmed. We have been told it is owned by the University but I do not know for sure. So this deer is not really on our property but every time I pull in or out of our driveway I see it lying there so peacefully. Every time I look out the front bedroom windows I see it lying there. It’s not a bloody mess. It looks like it stretched out for a nap and never woke up – although I am positive this is not what happened. So I have heard comments that since there are so many deer in this state, if you hit it, it’s yours to do with as you wish. I guess getting free deer meat in exchange for your car repair bill is a small benefit. I have had deer meat several times but I’m just not a huge meat eater to begin with so I have no desire to do anything productive with it. The deer was obviously not desired by whoever hit it either. Looking at it just makes me think of having to put Sadie to sleep a few months ago. I know HUGE size difference but one of Sadie’s owners when she was a pup called her Clarisse because she looked like Rudolph’s girl friend. I now see the resemblance!

The scene is killing me and I don’t want to spend the next several months watching the decay process, too up close and personal! Nor do I want to see other things begin to use it for dinner, like the hawks that flew off it when I pulled into the driveway after taking the kids to school. So I put off calling the county Sheriff's office for a day because I was afraid they would laugh at me. I had to find out for myself if it’s really true that there is no provision for picking up a dead animal. Unfortunately it’s true. They do a spring pick up and that is it. OK so I don’t need my taxes to go up so they do more pickups but I did not like the choices that were given. They said I could drag it to the ditch (which is full with leaves), bury it or get someone else do to this. HEAVY SIGH!! Anyone want a dead deer? Anyone want to drag this to the ditch and cover it with the neighbor’s leaves? I am having a deer dilemma!