Three of the 15 to 18 vehicles a week repaired by Vicksburg Body Shop are in because of damaged done by a deer collision, said employee Ronnie Brown.

Rinda Haden, an office representative for State Farm Agent Ada Lauderdale, said once the weather turns colder, she usually fields one call per day about an accident involving a deer.

“Sometimes it seems like we get more calls about deer than we do about (normal) accidents,” Haden said.

Thorne, an avid deer hunter, anticipates more accidents.

“The water is still rising,” he said. “The deer are going to leave the low-lying areas and come to higher ground. The higher ground is toward the highway.”

Deer whistle’s effectiveness considered questionable

For $5 or less, you may take a shot at protecting your vehicle from a collision with a deer, but its effectiveness is considered questionable.

Deer whistles, usually found at auto parts stores and sometimes handed out free by insurance agencies, are designed to emit a sound that warns and freezes deer that move into the path of an oncoming car.

But Stephen Demarais, a deer expert at Mississippi State University, said research shows that deer whistles don’t work.

He cited a University of Georgia study where researchers put the whistle in a wind tunnel generating winds between 50 to 60 miles per hour typical highway speeds.

“They documented that the sound that the whistles make at that speed is outside the hearing range of the deer,” Demarais said. “The conclusion was that the whistles don’t work.”

Rita Haden, an office representative in a Vicksburg insurance agency, said she knew of a few customers who put the whistles on their cars, only to collide with a deer.

“One lady had two whistles,” Haden said. “And darned if she didn’t hit one.”