Oh, deer! Auto collisions with wildlife on the rise in Suffolk

SUFFOLK

Eric Nielsen, director of public works for this rural city, never thought he'd have to worry about much more than potholes and center lines when the city took over the maintenance of more than 1,600 miles of highway a few years ago.

He wasn't thinking about the deer, never figured on having to buy two incinerators to get rid of the carcasses littering the roads this time of year.

So far this year, city crews have picked up 109 dead deer; last year about 75, a lot by anybody's count.

And that doesn't count the number of dead deer picked up by people who want the meat or work crew members who saw a deer and threw it in the back of the work truck without completing a report.

You don't need to tell Donnie Allred about the deer running rampant on the roads in and around Suffolk. Last week, Allred said, he had 28 deer-damaged vehicles in his auto repair shop, Donnie Allred Collision Repair, on Pruden Boulevard. And the cost of repair has increased over previous years, he said.

"It's been crazy," he said. "Another one of those record-breaking years. It used to be that deer damage would run about $3,000. This year, most jobs are going up to between $6,000 and $7,000."

Enough to make any insurance company scream in frustration.

That's exactly why State Farm Insurance recently issued a news release estimating that deer-vehicle collisions have increased nationwide by about 21 percent from five years ago.

The combination of growing deer populations and the displacement of deer habitat caused by urban sprawl is producing increasingly hazardous conditions for motorists and deer alike, according to the insurance company, based in Bloomington, Ill.

Virginia is considered a "high-risk" state, where one in every 137 motorists is expected to hit a deer in the next 12 months.

The Old Dominion is high on the list but not in the top 10. Leave that ranking to West Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and several other states.

The last three months of the year - October, November and December - are the most dangerous because these are the months of deer migration and mating, the "rutting" season, as it's called.

Deer collisions are more likely in rural areas, where there are usually more deer.

To avoid them, the state police advise, be extra vigilant in areas with deer crossing signs - they're there for a reason - and use your vehicle's high beams as much as possible. Remember that deer are most active between

6 and 9 p.m. They travel in herds, so if you see one, realize that others are likely to follow.

The best way to avoid a deer-car collision, though, according to State Farm, is to move to Hawaii, where the likelihood of striking a deer is 1 in 13,011.

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com