A survey of highway fencing along Interstate 80 in Centre County showed that 7 1/2 foot, type 3-modified fence has little value as a vehicle-deer collision deterrent; many deer crawl under the fence to the planted right-of-way and abundance of gaps underneath provides for easy penetration. From December 1974 through March 1976 numbers and position of deer were observed from a vehicle driven along 6 miles of I-80 at night. Bimodal patterns of abundance were found, deer were most numerous in spring and fall; of 2577 deer sightings, 74.5% were on the highway side and 25.5% on the far side of the fence. Comparisons between a control area where the fence was unmodified and test areas where gaps underneath were plugged and/or top five wires removed or repaired showed that the critical weakness in the fence is the underside but also that large numbers of deer cross a fully repaired fence. Only 6 deer were reported killed during the 16 months of study and no live deer were seen on the highway; these results, relative to previous findings beginning in 1967, strongly suggest that high traffic volume prevents deer from venturing onto the highway, thus reducing collisions.
Highway Fences as Vehicle-Deer Collision Deterrents
1976
31 pages
Report
No indication
English
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