Oh, Deer! Animal Services Public Service Announcement
IF YOU HAVE LIVE IN OR VISITED ALPINE you are probably aware of our large deer population that can be frequently spotted in town. From off the highways to in our neighborhoods we see them all over town and as beautiful as they are to look at there are some concerns to be aware of. You can see deer in the city limits of Alpine all year round but, it seems we see an increase in town during the fall and winter months. Deer, especially during the wintertime when there are more of them in town, are hit by vehicles. The main areas in town that we see hit deer are Hwy 90, Hwy 118 and Loop Road. Animal Services main hit by car deer calls are in the early morning when the sun is coming up, in the evenings when the sun is going down and at night when they are very hard to see. Here are some suggestions for avoiding a collision with a deer: 1 Always drive the speed limit, the faster you are going the harder it will be to stop or avoid a deer in the road. 2 Look for their glowing eyes on the side of the road. If you are traveling at night, your headlights should make the deer’s eyes glow when it hits them just right. If you see eyes slow down and pass with care, you may not be able to see all of the deer that are present. 3 If you see one deer there are probably more to follow. Slow your speed and keep an eye out for additional deer crossing the road. 4 Young deer may not be as street savvy as an adult, they will follow their mothers/ herds when crossing and can be harder to see because of their size. 5 If you do have a collision with a deer it is important that you call us immediately especially if the deer is still in the road. If the deer is still alive the most humane thing to do is euthanize it to relieve them of pain and suffering if the injuries are too severe. Alpine Animal Services will respond to a suffering animal immediately, do not take it upon yourself to put the animal down. If you can stay with the animal until help arrives that is best. If the animal is able to move we may not be able to find it if you leave the scene. You may want to file an accident report with a police officer if there is damage to your vehicle anyway.
Remember feeding deer is against city ordinance: Many homeowners feed the deer because they enjoy watching these browsers from their windows. The problem with feeding deer is that they can become a nuisance. Once they get comfortable eating the corn provided for them, they have less fear of humans and will eat landscape plants and garden vegetables. Deer love to eat the tender new growth of plants,often eating roses, and other favorite landscape plants. Feeding deer also leads to more fawns being born, and while that may sound desirable, it can lead to an overpopulation which usually means starvation for many animals. This is an issue many urban areas are dealing with today.
Original source can be found here
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