The Effectiveness of Deer Whistles
The road amidst forests or woods can be a tricky path to tread, not only for fear of an encounter with the wild animals but also of the knock-on-wood with any animal, especially the deer. According to the reports by the Utah state university, almost 1.5 million vehicles and motorists are not fortunate enough to avert these accidents.
Highway fencing, animal overpass, biological repellents, road salts, deer guards, warning reflectors, and several other methods and procedures are employed to avoid these unfortunate deer accidents. Still, most of these techniques are not scientifically evaluated. Hence they work no charm.
Fortunately enough, vehicle-mounted deer whistler, which is referred to as auditory deterrents are one of the most popular instruments that have proven its benefits of saving a deer’s life. Apart from being easily affordable and available, they’re also scientifically sound, which enhances the chances of avoiding a deer encounter mid-way.
Can the deer hear deer whistles?
A famed researcher named Dietland Muller-Schwarze compares a deer’s hearing capability to that of a satellite dish- which means that they’re sensitive to even the slightest sound around them. Since each ear of a deer works independently, they compare the sounds of each ear and detect the source of their origin.
The nature of sound is based on two factors- amplitude and frequency. According to many studies conducted to test the hearing sensitivity of the deer’s, it has been proved that deer have a higher sensitivity to high-frequency sounds and diminished sensitivity to the lower frequency sounds in the range 115kHz to 64kHz.
This means that the deer can sense the sound signals and the frequencies emitted from these deer whistles. Hence, while traveling in a car around an area with a dense deer population, it is a safe bet to buy a deer whistle, to save yourself from a horrendous accident and also save an innocent deer’s life.
How to use deer whistles effectively?
The best strategies to use deer whistles effectively is to mount them on cars in such a way that the sound carries ahead as well as the sides of the vehicle. However, one major limitation to this is the production of ultrasonic sounds beyond 10m by 30m zones, which could harm the deer whistle equipment.
Deer whistles that emit sounds of mixed frequency signals with a combination of both low and high frequencies might prove to be effective in altering the deer behavior. This can effectively prevent the collision of deer and the vehicle.
Bottom Line
Deer whistles mounted on the cars are a safe bet to avoid encounters with the deer in forests and areas with an increase in the deer population. Hence, investing in a good quality one can save you and an innocent life from an accident.
