Vernon motorists are being urged to stop the carnage on local roads.
Since Aug. 16, wildlife expert Pete Wise has removed six dead deer — does and fawns — after they were killed by vehicles.
“The little, tiny baby bodies are broken,” said Wise, who is contracted by the City of Vernon to dispose of road kill.
The most recent was at 11:30 p.m. Monday on Tronson Road, near Canadian Lakeview Estates.
“Just driving back from there, I saw seven deer on the side of the road eating grass and people are speeding,” said Wise.
“Tronson seems to be the worst because there is no much shoulder and the deer get out on the road as they are feeding.”
Other problem spots are Bella Vista and Okanagan Landing roads.
But it just isn’t deer as ducks and raccoons have also been killed by motorists.
Along with the dead wildlife, such collisions can cause significant damage to vehicles, which impacts insurance claims.
“Slow down and pay attention to what’s going on,” said Wise.
According to ICBC, there were 11,000 crashes involving an animal (wildlife and domestic) in B.C. in 2015, with 670 involving injuries for those in the vehicles while there were two fatalities. In the Southern Interior for 2015, there were 5,000 collisions between vehicles and animals.
“It poses a traffic risk if a vehicle swerves around a (dead) deer and hits another vehicle,” said Wise.
