Central Illinois officials warn drivers of 'suicidal deer'

[cigaretteman]

Drivers in rural Paxton, Illinois are being greeted with this sign.





http://national.suntimes.com/national-world-news/7/72/2423954/paxton-illinois-suicidal-deer

Drivers in Central Illinois are being greeted with a sign that reads “suicidal deer” for the next five miles on a rural road in Paxton as part of a campaign from the Button Township Highway Department to try to cut down on deer versus car accidents.

Early indications are that the sign is working, according to the Ford County Record. Not because the deer actually are suicidal but because it’s raised awareness among drivers. So far, no accidents involving deer have been recorded this year after 33 incidents in 2015.

“A lot of people see it,” Button Township Highway Commissioner Ron Hilligoss told the Ford County Record. “If you ask anybody where a deer crossing sign is, they couldn’t tell you, but they know where that one is at.”

Putting up the signs isn’t an original idea, as Hilligoss said his nephew saw them in Colorado.

“He texted it to me, and I thought it was really a good thing because it gets your attention,” Hilligoss said. “So we had a Ford County Highway Department meeting and I said, ‘Can you get me these signs?’”

Hilligoss said so far they’ve purchased four signs from a company in Chicago for $42 each but are waiting to put the other three up to see if the first one will survive, considering it could be a prime target for thieves and pranksters.

 

[The Tradition]

Heh, pretty funny.

 

[markfromj]

Shouldn't it be "homicidal deer" to take the focus off the cowardly deer and onto the innocent victims of their terror?

 

[86Hawkeye]

The deer have been co-opted by ISIS.

 

[BioHawk]

We need to reintroduce lions to help limit the deer population. (Actually, there has been discussion about allowing wolves and cougars to come back but farmers kill it quickly. And suburban parents who don't want their two year old eaten by predators).

 

[The Tradition]

We need to reintroduce lions to help limit the deer population. (Actually, there has been discussion about allowing wolves and cougars to come back but farmers kill it quickly. And suburban parents who don't want their two year old eaten by predators).

Or we could stop vilifying guns and hunters and get our children interested in outdoor life again.

 

[BioHawk]

Or we could stop vilifying guns and hunters and get our children interested in outdoor life again.

Or we could stop overreacting on every topic and acknowledge that gun violence is an issue that needs to be dealt with in a reasonable way.

By the way, never have I heard anyone criticizing hunters or owning guns for the purposes of hunting.

 

[The Tradition]

By the way, never have I heard anyone criticizing hunters or owning guns for the purposes of hunting.

Are you serious, Clark?

http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/wildlife-factsheets/sport-hunting-cruel-unnecessary/

 

[Rudolph]

Or we could stop vilifying guns and hunters and get our children interested in outdoor life again.

If I took an interest in hunting it would be with a bow. It just seems to me to be so much more challenging and elegant, if not "sporty."

 

[BioHawk]

Are you serious, Clark?

http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/wildlife-factsheets/sport-hunting-cruel-unnecessary/

So NOW you take PETA seriously? PETA has as much credibility as the Chamber of Commerce.

 

[The Tradition]

So NOW you take PETA seriously? PETA has as much credibility as the Chamber of Commerce.

Florida had a bear hunt this year for the first time since the 1970s. You wouldn't have believed the vitriol in letters to the editor when this was happening. Hunters and their guns are vilified all the time.

 

[Trevor4Iowa]

Are you serious, Clark?

http://www.peta.org/issues/wildlife/wildlife-factsheets/sport-hunting-cruel-unnecessary/

Thanks for posting, that is a great article and it takes courage to show the "hunters" some of the real facts. The truth is, hunting isn't necessary. Even if we look past that, the article highlights some of the obvious abuse some hunters inflict on innocent animals. I won't say people shouldn't be able to hunt, but I question the legitimacy of about 80% of the hunters/hunts.

I know PETA doesn't have a great name and there are parts of the group that I question, but this article is spot on and very sad, really.

 

[22*43*51]

The truth is, hunting isn't necessary.

Necessity has nothing to do with Liberty.

 

[Rustys Dad]

Too bad we can't rid of the inbred morons who keep reproducing. I'll take a world of extra deer over a world with Mamma June and the Katrashians.

 

[BioHawk]

Florida had a bear hunt this year for the first time since the 1970s. You wouldn't have believed the vitriol in letters to the editor when this was happening. Hunters and their guns are vilified all the time.

Well, that doesn't happen in my neck of the woods.

 

[hexumhawk]

Sounds like a good band name if you ask me.