Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh Deer

Recently this writer moved to an area of Tennessee outside Nashville onto a peninsula surrounded by a lake and populated with a large deer herd. The residents of the peninsula have a designated plot of land for the herd including a shelter house. The first night I drove through the winding dark streets I was shocked by their sheer numbers at the side of the road, with their little eyes staring back at me as I carefully drove home. It’s late summer and the deer are active, darting across the roads with young fawns in tow. Already a few have been injured or worse, and several vehicles were recently towed away with heavy front-end damage.

Having handled many many claims involving animals and vehicles, I am aware of the many losses animals cause. West Virginia has the largest number of animal claims, and chances of a deer claim were 1 in 37; nationwide chances were 1 in 116. The top ten states for animal collisions per State Farm between 2019 – 2020 are: