It is “only a matter of time” before a driver is killed in a road traffic collision with a deer, a mechanic in west Donegal has predicted. 

Over the past few weeks, there have been over a dozen accidents in the area because of deer and the repair work is keeping mechanic Noel McFadden in An Bun Beag busy. 

“We’ve been called out to tow cars that have been really badly, badly damaged by hitting a deer - especially at night, you don’t see them,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“They’re on the roads between here and Termon and here and Dungloe; they just run out in front of you and you have no chance at all and the poor people, [their] cars are so badly damaged. 

“That deer will go straight up over the roof, into the windscreen and make an awful lot of damage to the car.” 

F3E79M Young red deer Cervus Elaphus grazing on green meadow in the sunset light, Killarney National Park County Kerry Ireland

At least two cars have been totally written off and Mr McFadden believes it will not be long before one of the accidents is fatal. 

“There’s so many deer in the road and not even on the road, they’re along the fields, they’re up the back of my house,” he said. 

“They’re running around wild all over the place. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed. Somebody will be at some stage.” 

Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig regularly received complaints from his constituents about the deer and many have asked him to organise a cull. 

“I get what people are saying, that the deers are hurt and they’re dead,” he said. 

“However, if I had to make a choice between deer or humans, that choice, for me, is very simple; it’s about humans.” 

Wolves

There are no figures on how many deer there are in Ireland but - other than man - they have no natural predators. 

Centuries ago, they would have been hunted by wolves and environmentalist Killian McLaughlin of Wild Ireland believes that reintroducing the predators would make driving safer - citing a study by American economist Jennifer Raynor. 

“When the wolf returned [to Wisconsin], she found that road traffic accidents reduced by 24% - so almost a quarter,” Mr McLaughlin said.

“She was able to quantify that into dollars and it came out at a saving of $11 million a year.”

EBNEF4 European gray wolf (Canis lupus lupus), three wolves in autumn forest, Germany, Bavaria

Another alternative is to neuter the animals or fences along busy road - something Laura Brocksten, a member of the National Animal Rights’ Association, is preferable to culling. 

“You can also erect deer proof fencing,” she said. 

“They do that in Britain all across the major motorways where they have four, five, six, seven, eight lanes of traffic and that keeps them out. 

“It’s a much more humane alternative than just killing everything”. 

There are currently four species of deer in Ireland; the red is native, whilst the muntjac, fallow and sika deer are introduced.

Main image: A fallow deer.