Dodging the deer or Roo’s

As dusk starts earlier & the evenings get cooler, here in the Northern hemisphere, any of us that get home after work & think a quick blast down a favorite road would be a good end to the day, have to balance up the risk of meeting a deer. Obviously the risk is similar if you substitute a kangaroo for a deer.

Recently a friend had the misfortune to hit a fawn that ran into the road & then turned back, ensuring that the bike caught it.
Said friend is bruised with some road rash but the bike, from the insurance co’s assessment, a write off.

Is there any credible technology out there that discourages animals from getting close to us when we are enjoying an evening ride ? I don't know of any but thought I’d ask.

A friend of mine hit a wild boar between Plock & Warsaw, & wrote of a hire car......then did the same thing 2 years later (different Boar)....the only tech would be better fences !

There are plenty of 'deer whistles' on the market (e.g. this version on Amazon) that are supposed to warn and scare off deer when you come closer with your vehicle or bike, but these gadgets are shown to be completely ineffective: see this study: "the simulated sounds of deer whistles were no more effective than no sound at all"...

I think the only ways to avoid a deer encounter is basic vigilance (e.g. when you see 1 deer crossing the road or coming close, there will be more), to avoid rides around dawn and dusk, or try to ride behind a big truck.

ha timely post, just took a recently rebuilt tonti out for a shakedown, beautiful dusky sunset, my road out to the wider world runs along a river, just perfect for deer. Was playing cat and mouse with my throttle and brakes all the way, so didn't really get to test it. bring on tomorrow!!!

Nobleswood wrote:

Obviously the risk is similar if you substitute a kangaroo for a deer.

No need to substitute anymore as wild deer are now rampant in Oz.
They've been seen on my local suburban fringe, and I recently rode past a dead one on the side of the Hume Highway not far out of Sydney.

Maybe for balance we should send a few boatloads of roos to the northern hemisphere

Deer are better tasting roadkill we even had White tail deer on St Croix U.S.V.I.imported in the 1700s. Keep your roos we already have enough trouble here in U.S.with exotic spcies Pythons are heading close to my area of Fl eating everything in their path

Deer siting in Kentucky to and from the annual rally this past weekend.

A small fawn darting between bikes on a nice quick one lane road on the way in.
Described as a "small deer on the side of the road" by the lead rider.
Also noted as a "dog running across the road" by the second rider with the best in action view.
By me as "was that a hawk flying across the road?" last of three in line.

On departing, as second of four, we slowed up for a dog munching a downed 6-8 pointer on the side of the road. The dog did look up as I passed.

As for hitting deer it's purely the luck of the draw. Wild animals being exceedingly unpredictable and no sense of self preservation around high velocity moving objects. I've hit three, never on a bike thank you, over the years. Two in Indiana and one in California. They get around and they hate me.

Deer strike prevention? None known to man that I am aware of. Pure Luck or Shit Luck.
Over the years there has been some talk of expanding the deer hunting season around here.
Never seems to happen though. I've heard the deer population is at a historical high in the USA.

Hope for your mate's speedy recovery and return to service.
We can get new bikes, friends are harder to replace.

I'm tempted to make a pedestrian slicer like i had on my Triumph so in the event a deer runs in front I can pin the throttle and split it in two lol sounded good in my twisted mind

I was wondering if I’d missed something in the deer prevention scene but I guess not.

Thanks all.

I would trust a dog whistle before the deer ones, seen them NOT work in IL. Integral brakes work.

I think I once went past a deer on my lemans 1000, doing about errr 115mph on a two lane highway. he was in the other lane to me and was way behind me by the time I identified him.

I really can't be sure if it was a deer or not to this day. Maybe my brain just goes into denial when I try to think about it.

I remember remembering it now if that makes sense?

pure luck certainly came into play that day.

ride safe everyone!!!!

I was once walking with a small group through the forest near Erlangen, Germany.
Something large and red bound away from the bush next to the path.
I yelled out "Look, a kangaroo!"
Old habits die hard

Ear worm of the day the theme song to Skippy the bush Kangaroo .... I hated that TV show

Oh, and, the deer I hit in California knocked the deer whistle off my van!

Tim Henry wrote:

Ear worm of the day the theme song to Skippy the bush Kangaroo .... I hated that TV show

View Skippy here

You disrespectin' Skippy?


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I followed a deer down the mountain, just strolling along in the middle on the lines. Another time going to work up there was a big crowd of wild turkeys.

We have lots of wild turkeys along the roads here in interior British Columbia. Surprisingly enough, they seem to be quite smart animals - at least they are much more traffic aware than other animals (and are certainly smarter than deer). They roam around in large flocks and mostly stay out of trouble.

My friend Blair, BB43215 on the Ghetto, who had the deer incident, said the insurance co wrote off the bike & as he isn’t going to be buying it from them & replacing the damaged CARC. Someone might see it listed at a breakers.

The bike was an early 2007 1100, red with chrome which he fitted with the Mass Moto 2 into 1 exhaust. Seen here on
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Halfway down

As far as I know any damage was to the RHS, so the exhaust should still be intact.

Let us know if anyone sees the bike come up