Keep deer in mind with holiday lighting

Google "deer caught in Christmas lights" and you will get not hundreds, but thousands of articles, photos, and social media threads discussing the phenomenon. Elk are not immune to the problem either, although deer seem to be the most vulnerable.

Given that we share Sisters Country so freely with thousands of mule deer, it has no doubt occurred here and readers will probably let us know.

It sounds humorous upon first reading and images and memes can be highly entertaining - unless you are the deer in distress.

Deer mating season in Oregon runs into December when males are in antlers. Such bucks will rub their antlers against almost anything. Bucks rub their antlers to remove the itchy velvet coating that develops over the summer. Or to mark their presence and stake a claim on an area. The scent from the glands on their foreheads attracts potential mates and discourages other male deer.

Photo by Jim Cornelius

The process ordinarily only takes about 24 hours. If they rub against trees, shrubs, or fences with holiday lights, it's possible those lights could wind up snagged in the animal's antlers.

It's hard to predict what deer might snag. Homeowners can reduce the risk by common sense efforts. Wildlife biologists recommend attaching lights above the reach of deer in large trees. Stringing the lights in low shrubbery or fence lines could end up endangering the animal.

Anything tangled in antlers can stress the deer, causing it to spend time and energy trying to remove the object at the expense of feeding and resting.

Generally, a deer can free itself from the light strand, but usually the animal just waits until late winter when it naturally sheds its antlers, and everything falls off.

If you encounter such a deer or elk, especially the latter, it's probably best to ignore it. Capturing and handling the deer can be worse for the animal than leaving it alone. Trying to immobilize a deer can be so stressful the deer dies. And injury to you is possible.

Managing the problem

Wildlife managers advise against draping lights over shrubs and bushes under five-feet high. Trees with trunk diameters of two to six inches are most likely to be rubbed by bucks and bulls, so only string lights on larger diameter trees.

Use multiple short strands of lights plugged together versus one long strand so that if animals become entangled, they will have less cord to deal with.

Avoid stringing lights "clothesline" style across open areas. Attach lights securely to tree limbs, gutters, or fence posts.

Vehicle and deer collisions increase during the holidays

Being mating season around the holidays, more deer are on the move and crossing roads in pursuit of a mate. A combination of darkness early in the evening, a higher number of deer in motion, and drivers in the holiday spirit whose festivities may have impaired their reaction time, increases the risk of collision.

Deer, nocturnal feeders, catch us off guard. It's a dangerous event when a deer enters the roadway at night. Accidents happen frequently because drivers don't know what to do when they see a deer on the road. Drivers are often going too fast to be able to react safely.

The first instinct drivers make is to dodge the animals. That often leads to the swerving vehicle hitting a tree, guardrail, or other obstacle.

Law enforcement and first responders have one uniformly, commonsense piece of advice: slow down.