Enhancing the Perceived Threat of Vehicle 

 Approach to Deer — In North America and Europe, 

 the cost of deer-vehicle collisions exceeds $1 

 billion in association with human injury and 

 property damage, as well as injury and death to the 

 animals involved. Given that the majority of such 

 collisions occur during the twilight hours of dawn 

 and dusk, scientists at the NWRC Ohio field station 

 investigated whether the perceived threat to deer 

 posed by vehicle approach could be enhanced. 

 The investigators hypothesized that a vehicle-based 

 lighting system that produces an emission spectrum 

 covering peak visual capabilities of deer, as well as 

 being brighter than standard tungsten-halogen (TH) 

 lighting alone, would elicit a greater flight-initiation 

 distance (FID) by free-ranging white-tailed deer. 



combination of TH lamps and constant illumination 

 of the HID lamp contributed significantly to the 

 probability of a FID > 94 m (308 ft). 



Given the results, scientists concluded that vehicle- 

 based lighting is the main object of a deer's focus, 

 not necessarily the vehicle itself. Therefore, vehicle- 

 based lighting can be designed to enhance the 

 perceived threat to deer posed by an approaching 

 vehicle and yield greater FIDs. 



TITLE: Evaluation of Wildlife Food Plots, 



Repellants, and DRC-1339 "Take Models" 

 for the Management of Blackbirds and 

 Starlings in Sunflower Fields, Feedlots, and 

 Dairies 



The lighting system comprised two TH lamps and a 

 single Xenarc high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp. 

 Deer exposed to the combination of TH lamps and 

 constant illumination of the HID lamp exhibited the 

 greatest mean FID of 136 m (446 ft). In contrast, 

 deer exposed to only TH lamps initiated flight on 

 average at 116 m (380 ft), and those exposed to 

 the combination of TH lamps and the HID lamp 

 exhibited a mean FID of 89 m (292 ft). The 



GOAL: Develop new and scientifically valid methods 

 to reduce blackbird and starling damage 

 to ripening sunflower crops, feedlots, and 

 dairies. 



Starling Take Model — DRC-1339 is a selective 

 and effective avicide for reducing troublesome 

 populations of blackbirds, starlings, pigeons, 

 and other species of birds. However, the lack of 

 standardized and reliable techniques to estimate 

 mortality during baiting operations is a major 

 concern of WS. Such estimates are needed to 

 satisfy requirements of the National Environmental 

 Policy Act (NEPA) and the Government 

 Performance and Results Act. 



NWRC scientists developed a bioenergetics model 

 in 2007 that estimates bait consumption and 

 mortality based on daily energy requirements of 

 birds and species-specific toxicity of DRC-1339. 

 The model was constructed for starlings and 

 CU Bird Carrier (fat pellets) baits diluted 5:1 

 (untreated Treated), but it can be modified for use 

 with other species, baits, and dilutions. The model 

 is a user-friendly, Excel™ program that provides 

 a bioenergetically based method of estimating 

 mortality during DRC-1339 baiting operations. 



Researchers record the emission spectra from vehicle-mounted 

 lights to determine whether such lighting might enhance the 

 perceived threat and, subsequently, the flight initiation distance 

 by white-tailed deer in response to vehicle approach. (NWRC 

 photo by Thomas W. Seamans.) 



10 Developing Methods 



