RHINELANDER — Retired Conservation Warden and Lincoln County resident Jim Blankenheim’s memories of car-killed deer (CKD) go back a lot further than the one that laid 60 yards from his door.
“I called the Sheriff’s Office to arrange for removal, but they said I’d likely not get a response. They suggested I drag it off the road myself, but there wasn’t any public land nearby. I waited a day and called the contractor several more times, but nothing happened. Then we left town for a few days; what was left of the deer was still there when we returned,” said Blankenheim.
That experience reminded him of his early days as a conservation warden.
“I was a seasonal warden in 1968, no uniform, no state vehicle, just a badge and my personal car. Fortunately, there weren’t a lot of CKDs in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, but the ones there I had to wrestle on the trunk of that ’64 Chevelle, usually by myself. My most frequent helper was a girl friend who helped me lift them onto the trunk,” Blankenheim said, who, in an obviously wise move, married the girl.
Eventually, Blankenheim was hired full-time and assigned in Kenosha County.
“I learned deer were gold there; people wanted to buy those deer if they were salvageable. If not, they were buried in a pit on state land. Later, when I was the regional warden in Rhinelander and oversaw the bidding process for contractors, the low bid got the contract. If they weren’t being picked up in a reasonable amount of time, I’d call the contractor,” said Blankenheim.
In the years since, the DNR was relieved of the responsibility of coordinating the removal and it was assigned to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT), who administer the program similar to the low bid process as DNR did. Don Grande is one of those contractors. Through employees, Grande is responsible for pickup in 32 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, including Burnett, Polk and Barron counties.
Anecdotal reports from the public indicate some wonder if there is a CKD disposal program in Wisconsin anymore.
“It’s kind of a broken system,” said Grande. “Reporting is an issue; every county seems to do it differently. Some run through the local sheriff’s office and others through county highway departments. The state DOT has a computer system now where they’re mapped electronically and the reporting agency just drops a pin where the deer is, but sometimes we aren’t notified.”
The Wisconsin DOT has budgeted $700,000 to pick up and dispose of an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 car-killed deer reported each year out of population estimated at around 1.5 million. Although collisions occur year-round, peak times are in late spring when a dispersal takes place that coincides with fawns being dropped. That’s when last year’s fawns are forced to leave the doe and fare for themselves. The other time of high volume are in late fall’s breeding season when bucks, oblivious of highways, are on the move seeking does.
Contractors are required to follow standards when they pick up these animals, including markings and lights on their vehicles. Other requirements include carcass removal and disposal within two business days of the request to a licensed landfill, incineration, chemical digestion facility or rendering plants. A relatively new removal process is roadside disposal or abandonment. This policy can only be used in rural areas if the carcass is over ¼ mile from a home or business. Then the carcass must be dragged to the far edge of the public right-of-way outside of any drainage features and the mowed area. Additionally, they must be obscured from the traveling public if this method is used.
“The roadside abandonment program has led to an uptick in complaints,” said Grande, “especially when the right-of-ways are mowed.”
According to the DOT, the roadside disposal policy has dramatically dropped the deer pickup and disposal costs. In some cases, contractors are allowed to dispose of CKDs as a form of animal food, such as at zoos. These can be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, deer in velvet, meaning a buck’s antlers haven’t hardened yet, and spotted hides shall be destroyed and not sold pursuant to state statutes. Counties impacted by chronic wasting disease don’t allow disposal by composting or rendering.
One of the confusing aspects of the current program is that DOT CKD contractors are only required to pick up deer on state, U.S. and interstate highways. Counties and local governments are responsible for removal on county and local roads. DOT points out disposal efficiency of CKDs is highly dependent on local and county governments providing accurate and timely reports to contractors.
Another reason why the motoring public are seeing more CKDs this summer on state highways is the DOT’s policy of contractors not being allowed to pick them up in construction zones without the consent of the project manager. This policy was implemented due to safety concerns for both the contractors and the motoring public. Generally, counties are responsible for removing deer from the roadway or the highway lanes of travel if the contractor would be required to park anywhere on the road or if the contractor would have to cross the roadway on foot to retrieve a carcass. Contractors are also authorized to ask for assistance from law enforcement agencies if they feel it’s needed for safe removal.
Washburn County Highway Commissioner Brian Danielsen said he’d like to see deer picked up more often, but “DOT sets the rules and bids out the contracts. Our budgets are set and we’ve got plenty to do, but public works employees, myself included, will remove a deer we on the roadway or en route to one of our projects. We have a system in place where we notify the DOT’s contractors on the computer program they’ve provided us. If we get a call, we drop a pin on the location.”
Mike Hoefs, Barron County Highway commissioner, rates the state’s CKD pickup program “satisfactory to good. I like how the Sheriff’s Office night shift lets us know where they are; there’s good coordination here.”
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