Deer Alert

Deer strike, spring 2013

Last year, in broad daylight while traveling at about 40MPH, my wife and I hit a deer in her Mini Cooper. We were unharmed, the vehicle was repairable, but the unfortunate animal surely died from its injuries.

Deer on the roads are a problem here in New York, so we keep deer whistles on the car. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're wondering whether these tiny devices stuck to front bumpers throughout the Northeast actually work.

The answer is yes. On many occasions, I've seen deer stop in their tracks as our car approached. Moreover, the week that we hit that deer, the whistles normally attached to the front bumper had fallen off. The fact that we had an accident the moment the whistles were gone only reinforces my opinion.

Lesson learned. They're now back on the Mini and rest prominently on a ledge underneath the front license plate where I can easily confirm they're still there.

Can you see a deer whistle? 

Installing the whistles on my wife's Mini was easy. Installing them on a Cabriolet is another issue. This fussy owner wants a stealth installation. I want the deer to be the only one that can detect the whistle.

So where is the ideal place to install deer whistles on an E320 Cabriolet?

The solution I found is a smaller deer whistle I found on Ebay called the "Screaming Hawk." It's also available elsewhere on the Web under a different name, but it appears to be the same product. What I like is it's small enough to install inside the little rectangles of the grill and functions with just one (not two) whistles in place.

Stay tuned for updates on the results.