(La Porte County, IN) - Motor vehicles colliding with deer helped drive up the number of automobile crashes handled by the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office last month.

Sheriff John Boyd says the risk of drivers striking deer on the roadway is traditionally elevated this time of year, in part due to mating season when the Buck chase the Doe, and sometimes that chase leads them to cross busy highways and thoroughfares.  He also indicated fall harvest cause deer to vacate their hiding places within corn fields, forcing them to roam in search of other forms of cover.

Boyd said there were 124 motor vehicles handled by his department in October compared to 96 the previous month.  “Some of those are due to a burgeoning number of car deer crashes.  It’s that time of year,” he said.