DuPage drivers beware: It's deer mating season

Why did it take three advisories about deer rut season before I refreshed my inquisitive mind about the only antlered animal in the world?

For instance, did you remember that among nearly 60 types of deer in the world, only five-- moose, elk, caribou, mule deer and white-tailed deer -- are native to North America?

Drivers beware!

It's mating season and deer can be excited while roaming their home range, increasing chances for deer-vehicle collisions through the end of December.

Last year deer-vehicle collisions accounted for more than 1.5 million accidents nationwide, with the Illinois Department of Transportation reporting 25,491 incidents. Collisions resulted in thousands of injuries, hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims and about 150 fatalities, one in Illinois.

That's what I learned from my insurance company last Monday, along with safety tips to avoid hitting the large white-tailed deer population in the vicinity.

If young drivers are under your watch, caution them, too. Deer can come out of nowhere, even in our subdivisions.

Three years ago, our daughter's car was hit by a deer while she headed west at dusk along Aurora Avenue between Meson Sabika and All Saints Academy. A large deer darted across the street and smacked right into the driver's side of her car, knocking off the rearview mirror and scaring the daylights out of her.

Though both were stunned, the dazed deer kept dashing through the field toward Jefferson Avenue. Thankfully, other motorists stopped to help my daughter pick up the pieces.

What do you do after a deer-vehicle collision? Brake firmly and keep the steering wheel straight. Stay fixed in your lane to avoid hitting other vehicles.

Contact local law enforcement to remove the deer if it's lying in the road. Never approach a deer yourself. And if damages exceed $500, Illinois law states you must file a report with the police.

Deer feeding

On Friday, the DuPage Forest Preserve District e-mailed winter advisories about feeding wildlife. This time of year, the district's Web site, www.dupageforest.com, is chock-full of information.

For several years I've been on my high horse about the dangers of feeding bread and other unnatural foods to ducks and geese -- especially along the Riverwalk. Quite frankly, it never occurred to me that some humans set up feeding stations for deer in their yards.

Did you know that feeding wild deer has been illegal in Illinois since 2002?

The ban was established to help prevent the transmissible chronic wasting disease, a fatal neurological disease found in deer.

So I searched conservation Web sites from Alaska to Wyoming to confirm that CWD has not been found in DuPage County, nor is it harmful to humans or domestic livestock. Yet we need to be mindful that other diseases, such as tuberculosis and salmonella, spread through feed sites can infect us.

Good intentions aside, human feeding and the feed itself can be deleterious to deer. In winter, deer slow down, eating bark and woody vegetation when less food is available. They can survive by eating one-third of the food they normally eat, using their bodies' fat reserves.

Furthermore, feeding stations with hay and corn do not offer a balanced diet for deer, just as bread crumbs, peanuts and corn chips fail to provide adequate nutrition for waterfowl.

While feeding wild birds is not naturally dangerous, they, too, also can spread diseases such as salmonella, mange and avian pox if feeders and birdbaths aren't cleaned.

Conservationists suggest refilling birdbaths daily, cleaning and disinfecting birdfeeders and birdbaths monthly, and always removing and disposing of spilled food under birdfeeders so as not to attract predators.

For more information about feeding wildlife, contact your county forest preserve district.