Morgan Hill
– It’s mating season for the deer who wander into rural
neighborhoods in the South County foothills. But the season has not
brought with it an increase in auto accidents involving the animals
as it has in years past.
Morgan Hill – It’s mating season for the deer who wander into rural neighborhoods in the South County foothills. But the season has not brought with it an increase in auto accidents involving the animals as it has in years past.
Morgan Hill Police Department Animal Control Officer Daniel Pina said he’s seeing more and more of the troublesome turkeys these days than defiant deer.
“There really have been no significant incidents,” he said referring to the deer who roam the hills. “But turkeys, any time you go into the hills, you can see the turkeys, sometimes maybe a hundred of them.”
The turkeys sometimes trespass on private property and wander onto roadways and cause traffic problems. Although they can be aggressive birds, they do not alarm residents as much as recent mountain lion sightings.
Pina said the concerns over mountain lions, the turkeys and the usual pet problems occupied his time more than having to dealing with injured deer.
However, other South Bay agencies have reported an increase in auto accidents involving deer, attributing these to the mating season, when deer become bolder, coming out of their usual habitats and wandering onto roadways, with often fatal results.
Locally, there was an incident in Morgan Hill a week ago involving a deer and two pit bulls, but Pina said otherwise he hasn’t had to deal with more than normal incidents involving deer.
The deer apparently wandered into Bluejay Court, where some of the residents feed the deer.
“Two pit bulls apparently escaped from their fenced area and attacked the deer,” said Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson. “The deer in this area are frequently around people and perhaps are not as cautious. The deer’s injuries were minor.”
