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Show DWR Warns Of Deer Dangers On Highway Department of Wildlife Resources Re-sources officials caution motorists to stay alert when traveling through deer country, especially between dusk and dawn. Slow down and watch for the tell-tale "eyeshine" at roadsides. If a deer should cross ahead of you, prepare to stop. One or two more may follow, since deer rarely run alone. If you can't stop in time, sometimes it's safer to hit the deer then to swerve out of the way. A rollover or collision with another vehicle may cause greater injury and property damage than had the deer been hit Besides placement of warning signs, other methods of reducing deer collisions have been tested or are currently under investigation. Peggy Wood of Utah State University Univer-sity worked on an "intercept feeding" feed-ing" technique, where deer were lured to feeding areas away from highways. The method works, but is expensive and causes deer to become be-come dependent upon humans for food. Deer-proof fences, which require re-quire specially designed underpasses or overpasses to accommodate deer migration, are too expensive to justify widespread use. Still optimistic opti-mistic about reducing deer road-kills, road-kills, Dalton will test vehicle-mounted vehicle-mounted warning whistles during winter of 1989-90. "As long as our highways cross through deer ranges, we'll share with the deer a common hazard. Until we come up with a way to keep deer out of our way, we'll have to stay out of theirs," said Dalton. |