Kawasaki Vulcan Forum banner

If this works, it could be amazing for us.

3K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  pacomutt 
#1 ·
Electronic deer deterrent could prevent over 1 million accidents each year

FOXNEWS story link
 
#2 ·
I'm always skeptical of these things. It's kind of like those deer whistles. They sell you on the premise that deer have supersonic hearing, like dogs. But they aren't dogs, they are deer! In fact, deer hear at the same frequencies as a human being, so if you don't hear it, they don't either.

If it works however, that would be absolutely incredible!

Though according to the article, it's already been effective in certain areas! Although at a cost of $10,000 per mile, it seems like a wildlife fence would be cheaper. We have those here in MO in spots, it's just a tall, simple fence back in the woods, deer can't really jump it, so they don't get on the road.
 
#3 · (Edited)
The deer hearing is not the problem. They can hear an oncoming car or bike with loud pipes or motor just fine, at least as well as we can. It's their vision that's not great, as they have virtually no depth perception and are prone to run right out in front of something because they can't tell how fast it's moving or the direction. Not sure how a sound device is going to fix that.

Some of my riding friends run electronic deer whistles on their bikes and get a false (in my opinion) sense of security from it, and run 70 mph on highways where the thick trees come right up to the road. I can't help but think it might be making them more, not less, susceptible to a catastrophic event with a deer.

It would be awesome if these things work, but I'm having a hard time imaging them on the 5,000 miles of road in just my state alone, which is thick with deer from stem to stern.
 
#8 ·
I think it might. The 'deer in the headlights' is a very true thing. Bright lights startle the deer and, as another poster said, they have virtually no depth perception so they have no idea WHAT is going on and will freeze momentarily. The strobe light could confuse and startle them in such a way that they freeze.

It could also have the opposite effect. When deer are threatened they begin running and jumping in a fairly random zig-zag pattern. Their chief predators are dogs (coyotes, wolves, etc.) who hunt by running after an animal with an intent to 'meet up' with them (they run to where they will be, not where they are). Deer try to fool that by running in random patterns. That's why they get hit by so many cars, they fear a predator and start running in such an unpredictable manner they get hit. That's also why if you see a deer, you need to slow way down. They may be trotting alongside the road, but they could very easily swerve into your lane!
 
#5 ·
I tried to do some research on the whistles a while back.
It is kinda hard to dig through the B.S. though.

What I would like to see is a large scale auto insurance study, or a rural county government study. I didn't find anything very useful; I did find a lot of hearsay.

For a little more hearsay; I can tell you that growing up in rural TX; I knew of quite a few people who hit deer in their cars. None of them had the whistles.

I don't think the sound is meant to scare the deer away from the road; just to let the deer know you are there and traveling (toward them) at a high rate of speed.

I hit a deer with my Mustang when I was a teenager.
There was a herd, they were running across an open field toward the road, it was night and my headlights were on.
I know they saw me, I honked my horn and know they heard me.
They did not make any adjustments to speed or direction.
I think they did not recognize that I was traveling fast enough to catch and hit them.

I don't count on them to keep me safe from deer; but for six bucks (pun intended:D) I couldn't really find a deterrent to having them.

Scott
 
#7 ·
The problem with the whistles is, anything you can't hear, they can't hear either. My mom totaled her car when she hit a deer with two whistles on the front.

They are only a couple bucks, if they make ya feel safer go for it by all means. (If they really do emit a supersonic sound then they probably will help keep stray dogs off of your path) I'm just not convinced they do anything for deer. Even if they DO make a supersonic sound, it will at best annoy a dog, but deer hear at the same frequencies that you and I do.
 
#6 ·
I'm glad we don't have deer here, although there are some just south of here. We do have to avoid kangaroos at dawn and dusk, the most active part of their day.
 
#9 ·
I don't know about "supersonic" as I used to use the whistles, and if I had the window down I could hear them just fine. The logic presented was not that it would scare them away, but that the unusual noise would cause them to stop and look around. Deer are naturally skittish anyway, so anything unusual will get them to stop and check it out, to determine if it is a threat or not. Hopefully by the time they figure out flight or, well, flight, you will be by them. They don't consider a big hunk of metal screaming at them at 70 mpg a threat (not the brightest creatures on the planet), but making your car look like a hungry cheetah is much more expensive!:D
 
#11 ·
i have to run through a thick wooded area each night to get home. would love to find out these things are legit. the only thing ive seen that works for sure is CDs hung from the trees at the woodline. they do this in germany and i noticed a significant reduction of deer in the road. they space them out about 10-15 feet apart and hang them from string so they can move. not sure why it works, but it does
 
#16 ·
A couple year ago we had a deer jump off the 2nd floor patio at the office. The front of the building is at ground level with the 2nd floor and the back of the building is ground level at the 1st. It got spooked and saw a way out and went *SPLAT* on the sidewalk below, got up and limped off in to the woods. I have hit 2 this year in my truck. Its a normal thing here. But it is VERY RURAL around here too. Right now it is Rifle season in this area of VA and they are EASILY spooked. Now is when it gets REAL DANGEROUS.
 
#17 ·
I had the manual deer whistles mounted on my Gold Wing for awhile, but I'm not sure how effective they are, and apparently you have to be moving at a minimum of 35 mph before they start to "whistle" anyway. Then I got one of the electronic "Deer Alerts" and installed it on the Wing. Now that can be heard, at least by people. The theory is that deer can hear them as well, from a claimed distance of up to 400 yards. The other part of the theory is that even though it just emits a tone, it's supposed to be at a frequency that the deer don't like, so they either don't move or they avoid it by running off. Like I said, theory. To my knowledge, no one has interviewed a deer to find out if it's true.

Personally, there is no substitute for keeping a sharp eye out for the critters, especially deer, because they are stupid and so unpredictable. One should not rely solely on a set of deer whistles, either the manual ones or the electronic ones. I think, in the end, that it boils down to, if you think they work, then they work. I do know that they are extremely effective on elephants, because all the time I had the whistles and the electronic unit, I never saw an elephant alongside the road.
 
#18 ·
Personally, there is no substitute for keeping a sharp eye out for the critters, especially deer, because they are stupid and so unpredictable. .
That is spot on!

Deer are stupid and unpredictable.

I want to use every tool at my disposal to keep our paths from converging.

Scott
 
#19 ·
Including my Marlin 1894 .44 mag while I am on foot. :D :D :D
 
#23 ·
How can you tell??? #sarcasm#

Scott
 
#26 ·
And then there' this gem...

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top