Close Encounters
Posted by Michelle Pattison on May 5, 2008
Q: Why is it that when approaching deer in the road, they seem to not move? As though they are becoming accustom to vehicles.
State: New York
A: Your question is a good one and one I've wrestled with myself but have no definite answer. I've concluded, in my own mind, that deer simply don't register a car as danger. For some reason a car doesn't ring their "alarm bells" and they seem almost mesmerized by the car, whether day or night. Most dogs are quite savvy about cars but cats are not. It's not stupidity, it's just that a car seems to send out, or maybe I should say, does NOT send out, the right signals to trigger a flight response.
John Wiessinger ( May 5, 2008)
Filed under: Ecology