Drive Slower Connecticut, Deer Look Bad On Your Windshield

Have you ever hit a deer with your vehicle? I did once, and I'll never forget it. This is the time of year in Connecticut where the deer are trying to mate, and due to their extra-horniness, you may want to slow down at dusk and dawn for a few weeks.

The average male White-tailed Deer in Connecticut weighs 150 pounds, females average 110. Deer can reach 6 feet in length, and measure 39 inches at the shoulder, and their mating or rutting season runs from October all the way into January. According to ct.gov, the last two weeks of November is the peak of the rutting season, and I can tell you from my 4AM daily commute through a very dark Litchfield County that they're out there trying to hump.

If you are lucky enough, you may hear the sound of male deer using their antlers to spar over the neighborhood cutie. If it weren't for the deer hunters of Connecticut, the population would explode, deer population can double in the space of two years. and there are few natural predators capable of taking down a White tail. Make sure you're wearing your fluorescent orange hunters, it's the law.

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What can you do to minimize risk? Slow down on the roads, especially near rural areas and acres of forests. I use my high beams if possible, I can spot a deer eye on the side of the road from a half mile away now, they're very reflective. The time I did hit one, I had no warning, with a car behind and one in front of me. The deer tried to make it by my car but I was going maybe 40MPH. I saw a white flash appear on the driver's side, felt a big hit, saw my hood buckle, and tufts of fur fly everywhere. Slow down.