I'm scratching my head.

[First-light]

So people are complaining about the amount of deer they are seeing on the roads on eastern Long Island. Car deer collisions are a commonplace in some of these small towns. Do you know there is an organic sugar beet farm out east that coats road salt with a blend of sugar beet juice and molasses. They claim it slows down the breakdown of the salt which works better on iced roads. Some towns out east are buying and using this product on the roads. Now do you see where I'm going?????? My brother called the DEC last night in Stonybrook and talked to an agent there. They were flawed to hear this and promised my brother it would be looked into. Now we know deer love salt and sugar beets but to coat it with a sugary substance is just asking for trouble. How many towns use this, I don't know. I'll be interested to see what comes of this. 

[Adkhunter1590]

They are using that mixture everywhere. Not just small towns in LI. Look for the plastic 1000 gallon drums sitting next to the salt barns along the thruway...says beet juice and something else too. they use it down south as well. Supposed to be used to help reduce the amount of salt we lay down. The mixture stinks though...drive behind one of the sprayer trucks you'll see what I mean lol

[Doc]

Interesting observation. And then add to it that the time of year is such that the deer are in a food deprived state, it sure does seem like we are baiting the deer onto the roads. Maybe it's another herd population control program ..... lol.

[thphm]

Think about this.Most deer that are hit are  walking or or running across the road.If one is hit standing on the road licking whatever, it is the driver,s fault not the deers.Like to see what the DEC does about it.

[First-light]

I'll keep you guys updated.

[virgil]

Interesting about the beet juice.  But, I can tell you that the East End LI issue is not just in the winter.  It's year-round.  The East End is loaded with small woodlots, farms, and poorly lit and windy roads.  In addition, there are many areas that are mostly unpopulated in the 'off seasons'.  So, the deer roam freely, often onto roadways.  I'm not saying that I doubt that the beet juice idea couldn't be a factor.  Just saying that out here, there are a lot of other factors as well that contribute to the huge numbers of roadkills.

[phade]

It is used everywhere as noted. If deer were that attracted to it, we'd have heard about it by now because it'd be deerageddon on the highways with corpses everywhere.

[First-light]

Glad to hear it is used everywhere. You would think they would come running……..

[Fantail]

Maybe we can get the DEC to ticket the DOT for baiting. 

[Arrow Flinger]

I saw a group of 5 deer this winter standing right on the edge of the road eating something. I figured it was just the salt but I'll bet it was this new mixture.