Post by goodyz71 on Nov 29, 2008 12:04:17 GMT -5
This happend yesterday to one of our drivers at Hiner Transport In Huntington, IN.
Deer leap to death from overpass
Last of 5 strikes truck's windshield on I-69; driver OK
Michael Zennie
The Journal Gazette
For some drivers on Interstate 69 on Friday, it might have looked as though it were raining deer in Huntington County. But, sadly, it had nothing to do with holiday reindeer.
In a gruesome display of bizarre animal behavior, five deer leapt to their deaths off the U.S. 224 overpass and onto the northbound lanes of I-69 about 12:30 p.m. Friday. The last one went through the windshield of a tractor-trailer rig, the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department said. The driver was uninjured.
The 20- to 30-foot fall killed all five deer, dispatcher Brian Jenks said.
Wells County EMS paramedic Andy Stimpson said he was the first person to arrive at the crash scene, and he wasn’t quite prepared for what he saw.
“It’s the weirdest run I’ve ever had in 28 years,” he said.
The animals’ mangled carcasses littered the expressway after their fatal jump, Stimpson said.
This time of year is stressful for deer. Hunters push through fields and woods, hoping to scare deer out of their cover. Farmers are removing the last of their crops from the fields. And the breeding season is in full swing.
Any of these factors could have pushed the deer onto the highway overpass, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Phil Bloom said. Firearm deer season began Nov. 15 and runs through Sunday.
If oncoming cars spooked them, they might have jumped off the highway, not knowing what was below them, conservation officer and DNR district spokesman John Salb said.
And the I-69/U.S. 224 interchange marks a likely spot for wildlife and humans to collide. The west side of the interchange is bordered by privately owned fields and the Markle State Recreation area, which is popular with hunters, Jenks said. The east side of the interchange marks the edge of the town of Markle. And that stretch of U.S. 224 is heavy with traffic.
The falling deer is just one extreme example of the strained relationship between deer and civilization.
Jenks said he’s seen about a threefold increase in car-deer crashes over this time last year. Huntington sheriff’s deputies work, on average, three deer-related crashes every night. On a single night in mid-October, deputies handled 14 crashes across the county, he said.
Deer leap to death from overpass
Last of 5 strikes truck's windshield on I-69; driver OK
Michael Zennie
The Journal Gazette
For some drivers on Interstate 69 on Friday, it might have looked as though it were raining deer in Huntington County. But, sadly, it had nothing to do with holiday reindeer.
In a gruesome display of bizarre animal behavior, five deer leapt to their deaths off the U.S. 224 overpass and onto the northbound lanes of I-69 about 12:30 p.m. Friday. The last one went through the windshield of a tractor-trailer rig, the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department said. The driver was uninjured.
The 20- to 30-foot fall killed all five deer, dispatcher Brian Jenks said.
Wells County EMS paramedic Andy Stimpson said he was the first person to arrive at the crash scene, and he wasn’t quite prepared for what he saw.
“It’s the weirdest run I’ve ever had in 28 years,” he said.
The animals’ mangled carcasses littered the expressway after their fatal jump, Stimpson said.
This time of year is stressful for deer. Hunters push through fields and woods, hoping to scare deer out of their cover. Farmers are removing the last of their crops from the fields. And the breeding season is in full swing.
Any of these factors could have pushed the deer onto the highway overpass, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Phil Bloom said. Firearm deer season began Nov. 15 and runs through Sunday.
If oncoming cars spooked them, they might have jumped off the highway, not knowing what was below them, conservation officer and DNR district spokesman John Salb said.
And the I-69/U.S. 224 interchange marks a likely spot for wildlife and humans to collide. The west side of the interchange is bordered by privately owned fields and the Markle State Recreation area, which is popular with hunters, Jenks said. The east side of the interchange marks the edge of the town of Markle. And that stretch of U.S. 224 is heavy with traffic.
The falling deer is just one extreme example of the strained relationship between deer and civilization.
Jenks said he’s seen about a threefold increase in car-deer crashes over this time last year. Huntington sheriff’s deputies work, on average, three deer-related crashes every night. On a single night in mid-October, deputies handled 14 crashes across the county, he said.
