Incident with dead deer brings a few complaints

By DENNIS APRILL, Outdoors Columnist

On the Saturday before Memorial Day, a deer was hit and killed by a motor vehicle on Route 3 just outside of Cadyville. So far, nothing surprising here.

In 2000, the Department of Environmental Conservation received reports of 135 such accidents in Clinton County, 317 in Franklin and 91 in Essex County, or more than one per day in the tri-county area.

Cornell University researchers estimate reported auto deer-kills are only one-third of those that actually take place, so like I said, there’s nothing earth-shattering about the loss of one deer on Route 3.

However, it was a long weekend, and that particular deer remained where it fell until Tuesday; then, according to a nearby homeowner, it was buried in a shallow grave right next to the highway.

As to be expected, within a day, birds and animals dug up a portion of the deer, exposing a leg. The flies followed, which made for a less than pretty picture so close to the road where traffic speeds by, people walk and two families live nearby.

One homeowner who lives in the vicinity called the New York State Department of Transportation asking if the method of that deer’s disposal was standard policy. He was told that car-killed deer are buried near where they fall.

I drove by to take pictures on the Thursday after, and the partially exposed deer was still in its shallow grave covered with flies. Once more of it became visible and the flies did their job, surely coyotes, crows and other scavengers would follow.

But then things changed.

The next day, I got a call from that landowner who first complained. He told me the deer had been either removed or buried deeper and that lime had been sprinkled on the grave. But the question still remained: If there hadn’t been complaints, would such a shoddy disposal of a deer carcass have gone unnoticed?

Scott Docteur, Resident Engineer with NYSDOT, said afterward, "We generally bury deer as close to where we find them as we can. I think in this instance we could have done a better job. Dead deer are usually covered with 24 inches of dirt."

He added, "It (the dead deer) should probably have been moved away from the houses."

"If such an incident can be avoided in the future," the concerned landowner (who does not want his name mentioned) said, "then the complaining was worth the effort."