Deer breeding season spawns traffic concerns

Drivers take heed. There may be more deer and moose crossing Connecticut roads because it’s breeding season.

On Wednesday, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and AAA reminded motorists to be watchful of increased deer and moose activity along roadways, especially during early morning and evening hours.

Fall is the peak of the breeding season for Connecticut's moose population in the northern part of the state and for the ubiquitous whitetailed deer, running from late October through late December.

“Hitting a deer can be costly, even fatal,” Amy Parmenter, spokesperson for AAA in Greater Hartford, said. “According to UConn Crash Data, deer strikes resulted in a driver’s death last year and the year before.”

DEEP’s Wildlife Division says motorists should be aware of and heed “Deer Crossing” signs along state highways. They should slow down and drive defensively should a deer or moose be spotted on or by the road.

“Because moose are darker in color and stand much higher than deer, observing reflective eyeshine from headlights is infrequent and, when struck, moose often end up impacting the windshield of vehicles,” DEEP said in a release.

All moose and deer vehicle collisions should be reported to local, state, or DEEP Environmental Conservation Police Officers, 860-424-3333.

Deer roadkill

There were more than 4,000 deer strikes in Connecticut last year, though most go unreported, according to DEEP.

“During 2017, approximately 4,122 deer were killed in the state due to collisions with vehicles, which is down considerably from 10 years ago,” said Andrew LaBonte, Deer Program Biologist for the DEEP Wildlife Division. “While the number of collisions has fallen over the past 10 years, motorists should remain vigilant this time of year as to the presence of deer near roadways.”

Nearly 16 percent of deer roadkills last year — 106 animals — were in Fairfield County.

According to the latest DEEP data, Newtown had 33 reported deer strikes and Norwalk had 25.

In Fairfield and New Haven counties, the highest number of deer roadkill was on Interstate 84, Interstate 95 and the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways.

Moose road-related accidents

You’re more likely to encounter a moose in northwest Connecticut although they have been seen as far south as Guilford, East Lyme and Essex.

“Over 40 moose-vehicle accidents have been reported in Connecticut between 1995 and 2017, with an average of two per year since 2002,” said LaBonte.

In June 2007, a woman was injured after hitting a moose near Exit 37 on the Merritt Parkway in New Canaan. The moose was first seen in a neighborhood in Stamford and later at Woodway Country Club in Darien. EnCon officers went to Woodway to tranquilize the moose for transportation, but the moose eluded the officials and ran into the woods. About two hours later the moose was struck and killed on the Merritt, about a mile away from Woodway Country Club.

Data collected from other states indicate that a moose/car collision is 30 times more likely to result in a human death than a deer/car collision. On the average, 1 out of 50 moose/ car collisions results in a human fatality.

Moose venturing into southern Connecticut, with high population density, road networks, and traffic volumes, pose an increased potential for human fatalities from accidents as compared with deer-vehicle accidents. Residents throughout the state are encouraged to report moose sightings on the DEEP website at www.ct.gov/deep/wildlife.