Deer Whistlers - Any Good?

Having already lost one miata to a deer collision, and a lot more driving through deer country to look forward to, I am wondering if those plastic deer whistlers are actually effective. This is my first large animal of any kind to hit in my nearly 20 years of driving, so I can't be sure if I have just been lucky or if I would have hit the deer with a set of the whistlers installed anyway. Basically, I am wondering if anyone with them installed has had a deer jump out in front of their car anyway, and, for people that live in highly-populated deer areas, do the whistles seem to help cut down on close-call collisions? I am hoping to hear personal experience rather than just seeing the manufacturer claims.

Thanks,

Pat

Reply to
pws
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I live in a central Ohio, lots of deer here. So, I went searching for some info on this. I found one fairly informative page:

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Most of the rest seem to be either news reports citing uncontrolled observations or pages selling the whistles which praise them to the sky.

Good luck, Jim

Reply to
Jim

Good info!

Thanks,

pat

Reply to
pws

Reply to
BobT

I have no idea. I've used them, never hit a deer. Before I used them, I never hit a deer and yes, I live in the country with deer everywhere and this is their stupid time of year. I do know that the Spotsylvania and Louisa County, Va. sheriffs departments both use them and insist it cuts their deer collisions about in half. Antecdotal evidence to be sure but perhaps they do have some impact. At least their cheap and certainly can't do any harm.

Tom

92 Red pws wrote:
Reply to
Tom Howlin

I used to live in the Richmond area doing courier work at night, driving through Goochland, Amherst and other such rural areas. A few weeks into the route I put some whistles on. I still saw deer, but instead of seeing a dozen or so a night, (the route was 500 miles long, so I had plenty of time to see 'em) I only saw one or two. They do seem to help, and like Tom said, they're so cheap, I've got them on all my vehicles. (Under the mouth of the Miata where the tow hooks used to be, of course)

Paco

97 Montego Blue Miata 91 Toyota Previa 77 Suzuki RE5
Reply to
Pacocase

Don't go whistling at deer in California. Some big ol' doe from the local organic food co-op with tattoos, a mullet and strap on antlers will kick your a$$ and then take you to court for harassment.

Mack

BobT wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Reply to
Mack

Hmm, interesting choice of words... :-)

I just saw an article in today's Anchorage Daily News (adn.com): every year, Alaskans hit a staggering 1.5 MILLION deer! That's 4000 per day, in a huge state that doesn't have many cars or roads. (That doesn't include collisions with moose, bear, etc.) You'd think that, if there were a real solution, Alaskans would be using it.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

I thought that Texas led the nation in car-deer collisions, but it looks like we don't even keep records on the number of deer hit each year. Here is an interesting article on deer-auto collisions.

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I never did see the deer, so I had no choice but to follow the article's advice and drive through her. I hope that is what I would have done anyway, that area of highway has ditches that could send a vehicle rolling. I will be driving through there much more slowly at night from now on. I was doing 55 to 60 mph in a 55 zone. It was dark on a rural road during deer mating season. I was asking for it, even with the Cibies on high. If I had beeen going 45 mph, I could have probably stopped or at least it would have caused a lot less damage once the impact occured.

I am just glad that my daughter was not hurt, the deer was large, hit on her side and it could easily have been disastrous. I had people call my car a death trap when I bought it 5 years ago, but the only semi-serious accident that I had in it caused no injuries to driver or occupant and the car could even be driven to town once someone offered to let me follow them since my headlights were gone. The car did die overnight from electricity & coolant loss, but it made it to base and accomplished it's final mission. :-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

Actually, while the article does not really say so, from the context I would think the 1.5 million may be nationwide. The 700 moose number is explicitly stated to be Alaska, however. I am surprised to see the dead rate (2 out of 700) is so low. Then again, thinking of the roads, maybe I am not that surprised. I guess in most collisions, they are not going fast. ;)

Leon

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Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

Much to my regret, I found out that the deer whistles can startle the deer into blind flight. Scratch one headlight and fender. (89 MPV)

Reply to
chuckk

Yes, I think you're right, Leon--I misunderstood the statistic.

That was 2 dead humans, of course, not 2 dead moose. I don't care what you're driving, running into an 1800-pound animal is decidedly nontrivial. Alaskans not being wasteful folk, nearly all of the moose probably ended up in the freezer.

My own scariest trip, deerwise, was about 50 miles of I-80 west of Laramie. At least a hundred White-tails were all over the shoulders and median, mainly in small in groups.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

You guys need to drive in Pennsylvania. The hunters take over 400,000 deer a year here. The Game Dept has removed all bag limits on both sexes and only requests that the hunters buy a $1.00 tag for each deer killed. I don't know what the road kill numbers are, but I have run into at least four and have had them run into me while stopped. In one incident the deer attempted to jump over my car (a 1961 Alfa - top down) and landed on the trunk lid then slid off onto the road.

My Miata has deer whistles installed by a previous owner. I don't drive much at night these days so I have no opinion. The local Police Depts claim a noticable reduction in deer encounters of a close kind.

Reply to
Chas Hurst

Wasn't it President Truman that remarked after hitting a deer, "The buck stops here!"?

Reply to
Larry Gadbois

Yup. But Harry is long gone and the buck ain't. The local buck-a very large

10 pointer- has torn up a bunch of saplings around my yard sharpening his antlers. I'm tempted to take him down when the weather gets colder.
Reply to
Chas Hurst

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