Electronic Deer Alert Research
 

I am one of the unlucky people that has experienced a cycle vs deer accident. The accident occured 13 Jun 07 which severly damaged my bike and could have killed me. I've done much research on the internet regarding all types of deer alert systems. What I'd like to do is compile any information that I can regarding any other riders that have collided with deer or other animals that had some sort (electronic or other) deer alert or avoidance device on the motorcycle. I'd like to see if these devices actually work or not. Thanks for your time.

Brakes :P (j/k)

Do they not have signs in the US warning you where the deer are?

Cas :)

Deer are unpredictable and can sprint out of cover and straight into you ,anybody who has experience of driving/riding in deer infested areas can tell you this .
Deer don't read signs too well but noisy motorcycles seem to get their attention ,lucky for me !
If you are riding in Canada beware deer and moose ,especially moose at night because they are almost invisible in your headlights [non reflective hair] .

I haven't come across any gadgets that work .

Yeah, nearly totalled 2 deer on separate occasions when I used to live down in the Quantocks in Somerset. Buggers are only spottable by the glint in their eyes. One of the main reasons I bought aux lights for the GSA.

Cas :)

Deer
 

I am super cautious near dawn and sunset. Deer, pheasant, turkey, coyotes, wild hog, sparrows, feral cats, pet cats - they are all on the move.

Except for the cats, I try to avoid them all.

My neighbor hit a pheasant last week, the bird ripped off her drivers side car mirror. Quite an impact.

Not fond of cats, then?
 

Had to laugh at your frank, if potentially callous, remark about the cats, Tom! I think I regard cats in a similar fashion. Still don't know what makes me feel that way towards 'em, but I dig what you're saying.

As regards deer alert devices, I've never heard of any! Maybe you just need to ride thus: :eek3:

Regards,
Ken.

One of my very good friends with whom I have ridden with since the early sixties was killed on teh M5 between Exeter and Bristol. Riding up by night he hit a deer and came off. What killed him was the following car that drove over him as he lay on the road

A rider was struck by a deer near here [rhymes eh !] yesterday in broad daylight ,luckily he was OK .Be careful on the roads .

Another Deer Story
 

My friend hit a deer in his pajamas. How the deer got in his pajamas we don't know!

Here in Indiana, they do mark areas where deer are known to cross the roadways. However, the overall deer population in the US has nearly doubled over the past ten years. I guess due to lack of natural predators and over protective hunting seasons. The deer I hit was standing in the middle of the lane in which I was traveling, unfortunately I didn't see it until the same second that I hit it. I was traveling at 75 MPH when I impacted, and believe it or not, I didn't go down. I think the high rate of speed I was traveling kept me upright... that and I have a great guardian angle watching over me.

Anyone researching deer related bike crashes may want to look on youtube, there's some sobering viewing on there.

As regards cats - I actually quite like them -but I haven't eaten a whole one for a while.

Mike

In my country theres dozens of car drivers and motorists killed each year when colliding with the big animals of the forest. Deer and especially moose are the worst, also reindeer in Lapland, but theyre usually smaller.

If there was some easy system that would be effective, and make them step back before they go into the road, dont you think it would be standard equipment in every car & motorcycle these days? I would think the insurance companies, for one thing, would require you to use them!

I heard a claim that those animals cannot ´recognise´ you when your moving at the excess of 70km per hour or something.. and nearly all fatal accidents with these happen at +100kmh. Also something like 90% of them happen just after sunset, and just before sunrise, so being extra careful during these hours will make you a lot safer. I dont think theres any gadget that would do the trick.

a while ago i was talking to a guy who had two little "trumpet" like steel tubes on his GS's front fender. they were a little smaller than a duck call and they were to scare off deer. apparently when riding they emit a very high frequency whistle that we cant hear but can be heard for miles by animals in the road. he'd been hit by a deer running out of the bushes before and didnt want it again.
i expect all the neighborhood dogs loved him

Deer (as with most animals) are unpredicatable by their nature. The hubby hit one a few years ago on the road between Largs and Greenock (in Scotland). He was travelling at 10mph (he had already slowed down for 2 crossing the road coming off the beach and into a wooded area) when a third deer crossed in front of him. Caused £3k + damage to a Vauxhall Senator. No venison for dinner though because the deer got up and walked away!!

How about bat alerts? One flew into him last night whilst we were out on the bikes and put him into a wobble. Wouldn't think the bat was too happy about it either. And both cats and dogs out here have a habit of hiding behind cars and taking a flying leap at you as you're passing. Baying horses (with their front legs hobbled) are a bit scarey. Bees making contact at 100kms per hour is pretty painful.

Animals are a by-product of being at one with nature!!!

Shu Roo
 

Hello Guys,

In Australia we have a problem with Kangaroos so we normally do not ride at night. Silly to do it anyway I think.

There is a device that is sold there called a Shu Roo. For bikes they are just a small conical thing that will stick on the front of the bike somewhere that emits a high pitched whistling sound. For cars they make a electronic one for cars.

I am not sure if they work or not but I have run them on my bike for several years now and haven't hit anything so far (touch wood)! Before this I had hit Cockatoos, and Galahs which hurt like hell.

Anyway, it's worth giving them a try.

Cheers
Ivan

ShuRoo - High Frequency Protection, Pest Management Systems, Wildlife Convervation and Animal Deterrent Systems

Yeah ,you can buy those here in Canada , they don't work .

As livestock farmer ,I am used to animal body language and can predict ,to a certain extent, what an animal is likely to do . If you watch their ears and eyes you will have an inkling with regards to whether they are going to bolt in your direction or continue grazing .However a doe may be grazing out of sight in a road ditch and bambi will be grazing close by and lose sight of his mum , then he'll panic and run to where he last saw her or to where she is now with no regard for anything that may be in the way .
Deer will see you coming and then dash out into the road in an attempt to get across before you arrive , it does not occur to them to wait until you have passed .
So, in a sense ,they are quite predictable ,but like people they do the stupidest things at times !

And the nastiest animals of them all, People. I have upon many occasion, had people walk out in front of me, particurly on busy high streets, give them a beep of the horn to warn them of your presence, (as in accordance with the highway code) and then they hurl abuse. also if a pedestrian crosses the road on a green light, we should be allowed, no - encouraged to mow them down. And then the cars, people must assume that in cars they have right of way, particaly on roundabouts, i noticed this the day i passed my DAS, beliveing that maybe it was because they did not see me - i almost always wear a high vis jacket over my gear now, did it help? Did it ****. Dont get me wrong i am not having a go at all drivers, many are considerate, and to be doing that i would be shunning myself, but to blatantly cause a bike to react, they are the ****'s that i am talking about. As for a Gadget to stop this.. I havent a clue. but boy o' boy did i need that Rant.. Cheers all. W

I live in an area with a healthy population of deer and used to see them early in the morning on the way to a previous job. I've got some deer whistles on the front of the bike, I picked them up for $8 in the States. Do they work? who knows but at the very least they're a talking point when I stop.

An experiment was carried out a few years ago where the roads around here were lined with reflective posts which caught the headlights and then projected, at 90 degrees, two "wolf eyes" into the woods. It seems they were very effective. So effective that the deer waited until the "wolfs eyes" disapeared before crossing the road. Just in time for morning rush hour!!

Eyes in the night keep deer off the road - 24 December 1994 - New Scientist

Shooing roos (or anything else)
 

I just can't see roos diving for cover when (and if) they hear an approaching high pitched whistle. How many seconds warning do they get anyway? Those whistly things are cheap crap, entirely untested. Have you ever tried a dog whistle? Dogs pay absolutely no attention. I believe roos stare at the lights as you approach, and then they suddenly become aware of their own shadow moving, become alarmed and leap away into your path. For those readers who don't know, hitting a roo on a bike would be a very serious accident indeed. I imagine hitting a deer would be worse.

A friend at work was driving home at dusk when he hit a "big red" with his car. This is a very big animal and it smashed his front end, buckling the bonnet (hood) over the smashed windshield so he couldn't see, and jammed the steering with the dislodged front bumper. The animal then bounced off his car into the path of an oncoming truck. It smashed through the windshield injuring the drivers' chest with it's dying kicking and filling his eyes with glass. He eventually had one eye removed (the driver, that is) and was hospitalised for 6 weeks. The car was a write-off, they were both lucky to survive.

I avoid dawn and dusk riding - too scary.

ShuRoo ineffective
 

Hi, if you're interested in science, have a look at the following link regarding a scientific test that found ShuRoo does not work:
http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/school/r...huroofinal.pdf
Cheers, Tam

Deer warning devices
 

Hello all. The insurance corp of British Columbia did some objective and pretty sound scientific research on these warning devices and found that there was no evidence to support any of the claims made by the manufacturers of each device. Canadian riders know.......dusk and dawn. Animals are moving. Pay attention....and loud pipes makes them very unpredictable.....quiet is good.....safe riding.

After seeing quite a few deer alongside the roadway…some were even alive, I bought and installed a deer whistle on my bike.:scooter:

I had it on for a year but it didn’t seem to be working. :nono:

Upon examining it, a friend grunted as he explained the problem:

Apparently, I’d installed a DEER CALL, not a DEER WHISTLE. doh

So in fact, far from repelling them, I was actually attracting deer wishing to mate with my bike. (Which would explain the looks the deer had been giving me.)

:funmeteryes: