Photo courtesy of Flickr / alastairduncan
The State Farm insurance company says that Missouri drivers' chances of hitting a deer are increasing this year — we're 4.5 percent more likely than last year. And if that doesn't sound too frightening, consider this: Last year already saw 900 more deer being hit than the one before that.
In fact, the auto insurer predicts that Missouri will be No. 17 in the nation for deer collisions in the next twelve months. Odds of hitting a deer in the Show-Me State this year are 1 in 112, State Farm says, while the national odds are 1 in 162.
The next three months are the scariest of all. Odds of hitting a deer are highest in November, followed by October and then December, State Farm notes. Apparently, these months are deer breeding season, and getting some sexy time is apparently correlated with doing things like bounding in front of cars and causing carnage on county roadways.
State Farm derived its numbers by using its claims data and state licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration. The insurance company determined the odds of any single American driver hitting a deer, moose, elk or caribou throughout July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 across each state and Washington, D.C.
While the research didn't reveal good news for Missouri, we could have it worse: West Virginia placed first for the eleventh (yes, eleventh) year in a row, with a 1 in 43 chance of hitting a deer. Montana, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Wisconsin follow in the top five. Meanwhile, as if it's not enough of a paradise already, Hawaii placed last for the eleventh consecutive year, with a one in 6,800 chance of hitting a deer. We'd definitely take those odds.
You can get more deer collision info and safety tips from State Farm here. And if you're still not convinced that nature hates us, we suggest reading about St. Louis' bed bug problem. Or our raccoon problem. Or our armadillo problem.
Stay safe out there, folks.
