Top Three Dangers of Whitetail Deer

Any wild animal can be dangerous in the right situation, but whitetail deer were recently titles of the most dangerous animals in North America. You might be saying, of all animals....the whitetail? Really? Whitetail deer cause on average 120 deaths in the United States annually, that's more than double the next leading Bees/Wasps/Hornets. Don't worry, you don't need to think about vicious deer attacks too much. A large chunk of those are caused by car accidents.

Vehicle accidents involving deer are the top dangerous interactions humans have with whitetail deer. While the fatality rate is much lower, there are roughly 1.5 million deer related vehicle injury accidents. Keeping a close watch near sunset and sunrise hours can help you avoid hitting a deer, especially in rural areas. Whitetail deer often just from brush on the side of the road, so going a safe speed can help you stop in a reasonable time and avoid a collision. If you happen to see a deer on the side of the road, stop your vehicle and honk until they move away from danger.

With more and more humans in the natural habitat, there is some concern for whitetail deer being aggressive over their territory. When a whitetail deer feels threatened they can attack. While whitetail bucks will fight with their antlers, hooves are the first line of defense for all whitetails. If you approach them or they feel threatened by you, they might begin to rear up on their hind legs. This position is called the boxing position, it gives the stability while using the hooves on their front legs to fight. Most of the time a deer will run from a human, however it is important to remember not to approach them if they don't.

Whitetail deer do carry diseases, but the transmission of Lyme disease is the highest risk to humans. Yearly, over 13,000 new cases of Lyme are diagnosed and whitetails are one of the top tick carriers. Outside of ticks, internal parasites are common in whitetail deer. When feild dressing and consuming your deer it is important to keep an eye out for meat that looks concerning and to cook it thoroughly. Whitetail deer do fall susceptible to many diseases not transmittable to humans, but look alarming. If you encounter a diseased whitetail, please contact your local natural resources officer.

Whitetail hunting preserves help us study the natural behavior of deer, and can help us understand and study disease patterns. Hunting ranches can also help manage population is areas without a thriving whitetail population. For more information about whitetail hunting preserves, please contact Hidden Hollow Whitetail Ranch.