Home > Duluth.Talk > Archives > 2006 > July > 13
Thursday, July 13, 2006
I know why a deer smashed your windshield
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The deer are rebelling.
According to an AJC article this week, Georgia has the nation’s fifth highest rate of deer-vehicle collisions.
Behind Henry County, Gwinnett is second in the number of accidents involving deer.
That’s a ranking based on the total incidents reported to police in Georgia two years ago - 10,017. Georgia State Patrol officials suspect that not all incidents were reported. The Wildlife Resources Division estimates that 50,000 accidents actually took place.
I see deer at my office. I will go outside to catch a breath of fresh air during the course of the day, and I will often see one, two, sometimes three of them roaming about in the wooded area just on the other side of the parking lot. It’s a really neat thing to see.
There’s always been wildlife here. Back in the day, Gwinnett was a great area in which to hunt and fish. I saw raccoons, opossums and box turtles regularly when I was growing up. Lately, in addition to deer, I have also been seeing foxes and even a coyote.
Back when Jones Bridge Park was still in the country and there were actually dirt roads strewn throughout the county, it was rare to see a dead critter on the side of the road. They all stayed back in the woods, for the most part. I knew they were there, but I never saw them. We had not yet encroached upon their land.
The fact of the matter is that deer, and wildlife in general, are running out of room. Developers carve subdivisions out of valleys, mow down whole forests in order to erect apartments, strip malls, shopping centers, business complexes and recreation complexes such as ball fields and golf courses.
I call it the Field of Dreams Mentality: If you build it, they will come. And come we have, in droves. Mild winters, reasonable prices for land, economic opportunity: There are many reasons why we have grown so much.
Now, the hidden expenses of our growth are starting to come to light. Development of the region has been so haphazard, so unplanned and uncontrolled, that now we are starting to see the consequences of our lack of restraint.
Deer come out of the woods and hit our cars like jihadists attacking infidels. The costs of repairing a damaged car and paying for hospital bills continue to grow.
Coyotes and bears, once seen only on the rarest of occasions, are now foraging through the trash bins of our apartment complexes and shopping malls.
When I was growing up, my dogs had free run of the neighborhood. They never ventured far away, my neighbors knew them, and they played in the streets just like the kids did. If I did that today, there is a better than good chance that my pet could become some critter’s dinner because they are forced to live closer together.
We haven’t really faced the consequences of our growth, but now we are starting to. And it’s going to get worse. The less space they have for their own, the more they will start to encroach on ours. Expenses resulting from property damage caused by deer and other wildlife will continue to grow.
I’m not sure what to do about it, but I’d like to hear your suggestions.
Permalink | Comments (20) | Post your comment | Categories: Bill Allen
