DEER ALERT SIGNS AFTER COLLISION

ANIMAL HIT BY CAR HAD TO BE PUT DOWN BY VET

WARNING signs have for the fist time been put up on the Rosslare Road warning of the danger posed by deer running wild in the area.

The erection of the signs follows an accident on the road close to Killinick earlier this month in which a deer was badly injured after a collision with a car.

The deer had to be put down by a vet called to the scene of the accident by gardai.

The vet, John Roche, from O’Shea and Bramley, said the young stag had suffered broken antlers and two broken hind legs in the accident and was lying in a lay-by at the side of the road when he arrived. John said the deer weighed around 150kg. No one in the badly damaged Peugeot was hurt in the accident which happened on April 1.

Back in January, this newspaper reported that wild deer were becoming a major safety hazard in County Wexford as increasing numbers of the animals move south from neighbouring Wicklow.

At that time at least two accidents have been caused by deer on or near the Rosslare Road in as many weeks, with one family lucky to be alive after a Stag ran into their car and smashed into the side of it close to the Drinagh roundabout on the outskirts of Wexford town.

Christine Ryan, from Ballycogley, said she and her six-year-old daughter Jaden and niece Rebecca Foley had a very lucky escape in the accident on the Rosslare Road side of the busy roundabout on January 7.

‘My niece said it was a miracle it didn’t come through the windscreen,’ said Christine.

In another incident shortly before Christmas, a car was badly damaged after it ran into a deer near Killinick. Gardai said they had no information on this incident, although, according to local reports the deer was killed and the car was a virtual write off.