Highway Commissioner Ron Hilligoss got the idea from his nephew to put up a road sign with the words "suicidal deer" on it and an image of a jumping deer.

"My nephew sent me a picture of one of these signs out in Colorado about six months ago." he told Ford County Record. "He texted it to me, and I thought it was really a good thing, because it gets your attention."

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The picture was of a yellow road sign with the words, "suicidal deer," on it and an image of a jumping deer.

Hilligoss had the highway department order four of the signs from a Chicago company six months ago to be used in his town of Paxton, Illinois.

"A lot of people see it," Hilligoss said. "If you ask anybody where a deer crossing sign is they couldn't tell you, but they know where that one is at."

Hillgross said that there have not been any deer-related accidents reported so far in 2016. He attributes it to the sign doing its job.

"It's just nice to see something that constantly reminds you that there are deer running out there," he said.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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