Do deer car whistles work?

In this article we will discuss the age old question of do deer car whistles work? Numerous methods have been suggested to lessen deer-vehicle road collisions. These include animal overpasses, highway fencing, lure crops, road-salt alternatives, biological repellents, better-quality highway lighting, driver education, warning reflectors. Unfortunately, majority of the proposed techniques tend to be ineffective in terms of keeping deer away from the highway.

Among the most popular and sought-after method is the use of vehicle-mounted whistles which are also called as auditory deer deterrents but are much popular for the name of deer whistles. Numerous motorists confidently depend on their deer whistles as their prime any of preventing deer/car accidents. In fact, an approximate of 1-1 ½ million individual per year have bumped into a deer. Around a million deer and 300 people are killed each year in a deer-car accidents. But do this deer whistles really work?

Generally, deer whistles are categorized under two categories: air velocity deer whistles and electronic whistles.

Air velocity deer whistles-the creation of this whistle revolve around the idea that a compressed air that travels through whistles creates high frequencies. This frequencies are believed to warn animals that will causes them to respond accordingly and keep away from danger.

Electronic Whistles-these are specifically designed to generate an ultrasonic sound that can be heard by both human and small to large animals including the deer. The sounds produce are expected to warn a deer about an upcoming vehicle. As the vehicle come closer, the sound will tend to go louder. The loud sound will prevent a dee from startling and jumping over a running car.

Though the device is proven effective in several instances some products may still not be able to prevent a deer-car accidents. Effective deer whistles usually emit continuous, consistent sound at one frequency and the same intensity. It should simply work as advertised. Moreover, for the deer whistles to be functional, the sound it emits should be able to travel as far as possible. An adequate distance is needed to give the animal enough time to respond, recognize the possible danger and run away from the road surface.

There are other factors needed to consider in order to determine the effectiveness of the device. That may include human safety precautions and concerns, hearing capabilities of a dear, deer response towards the sound or deer’s neurological skill to process an alert information efficiently to reach act accordingly, and the distance and ability to produce sounds with apt intensities as well as distance from the moving vehicle.

Nevertheless, Deer whistles might still be effective if it produce a tolerable amount of decibels that can travel as fast as possible. Generally, if a consistent sound at the same level of frequency doesn’t work, an alternative low-high frequency or those complex sounds produced by devices might be much effective in deterring deer or altering their behavior.

Several manufacturers claimed that their device can effectively deter deer. However, because not every product is created equal it will pay to understand the characteristics of an effective device including the amount of decibels it produce.