Be Careful Connecticut Motorists- The White Tail Deer Rut Is On

Watch out Connecticut, it's that time of year, horny White-Tailed Deer are on the prowl, and it sucks to hit them with your vehicle. I know from experience.

It happened to me in Westport of all places. One of the most densely-populated areas of Connecticut, and I hit a deer. Unlucky me, I'll never forget it.

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I was driving on the Sherwood Island Connector off of Exit 18 of I-95 in Westport. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a white flash. The next thing I saw was a deer's head, in the middle of my truck's hood. I felt a big impact, a flash of white fur went up, and I heard the dreaded sound of crumpling metal, and shattering glass.

I had hit a female White-tailed Deer, doing around 40 MPH. I was so sad, I love animals and it hurt me that I had hurt this magnificent animal. I pulled over onto the shoulder of the road, and saw the poor thing lying on the side of the road, it was lit up by the headlights from the person that was following me, she asked if I was ok. I was, luckily, I just banged my knee into the dashboard on impact, but it could have been much worse.

That was November 4, 1992. 29 years ago. It was awful, hitting the deer basically destroyed the front end of the Chevy S-10. I remember it cost around $3,500 to fix.

Have you noticed the increase in White-tailed Deer in the past week? I saw two or three on the way home this past Friday night. Why? It's mating/rut season here in CT. The rut typically starts in late October, peaks around Thanksgiving, and lasts into early January.

Female deer give birth in June, and wean their young until September. Then, after a couple of weeks of rest, cue the horny male Deer, and the deer porn music - it's on.

As the female Deer are weaning their babies, the male White-Tailed Deer are shedding their antlers, and experiencing a rise in testosterone levels. Just like male humans with elevated testosterone levels, they get into scraps and sparring battles with other male Deer, establishing hierarchy. When it is, then the male Deer search their territory for a responsive female. Trouble is, this behavior makes them wander into unusual territory, like I-84, the Merritt Parkway, or your street.

What can you do to avoid hitting a 160 pound excited deer? Not much, but you can slow down, use your high beams to illuminate dark areas of roads, and pay attention to the street signs that have a deer leaping, they're installed there for a reason.