PITTSBURGH — You’ve seen the white tails day or night — no highway or residential street is safe from Pennsylvania deer.
“Live ones they cross right in the middle of the road, they seen you coming,” said Donna Drissler from the North Hills.
Those deer aren’t safe either — the Pennsylvania Game Commission gets hundreds of calls every month for dead deer along the road.
“Some of the dead deer, I mean you can tell with the decomposition like you can smell it even with the air conditioning on,” Drissler said.
With only 136 officers statewide, dead deer that do not block traffic are not a priority for the commission, and in the height of hunting season, their carcasses can pile up.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is hoping to lighten the burden with a new proposal.
“The agenda item would essentially allow private contractors to pick up roadkill deer which is presently prohibited by law,” said Travis Lau with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
By adding in wildlife private businesses, you may see fewer deer on the side of the road; plus if you have an issue on your private property, the removal process could happen weeks sooner.
“Since those wildlife nuisance operators are already under the authority of the game commission it would be easy to regulate and give folks another option even though there would be a fee associated with it. It might be something they are willing to pay,” Lau said.
The proposal will be introduced at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s board meeting on Saturday. If it passes, the final vote to adopt it as policy would be at the next meeting this summer.
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