Likelihood of a Deer/Vehicle Collision

[steve_wicks]

we have to deal with cows (and pedestrians)..... the reason why I avoid intercity/cross country work unless it is daylight!!!

[Bengt_Phorqs]

I'll have to try the horn thing.  Why is it that a deer can hear me snick the safety off of my rifle from 1/4 miles away and take off like a bolt of lightning, but won't move when I'm coming down the road?  Rhetorical question not requiring an answer.  However, I do know that the venison chili I made last night was pretty darn tasty!  

Hmmmm, a chili thread?  Might start one of those....

[Semper Gumby]

Thank you for killing the forrest rats.   :-/

TTFN,

[Altritter]

However, I do know that the venison chili I made last night was pretty darn tasty!
 

I'm sure your chili recipe is good. I've eaten good venison in Germany, but not as chili. But I gotta ask—Do you think some of the flavor comes from the Lyme-Disease ticks (Backwoods Peppercorns)?  

BTW, though I haven't tasted it myself, I'm told by lifelong (or in their case, long-life) New Mexicans that the old-time Hispanics make chili with goat meat. Wouldn't mind trying it.

IMHO, the secret to good chile is a good supply of real, full-strength chile rojo. Don't go near this commercial dreck that's in the major supermarket chains; I warrant that it's cut with cornstarch to "Anglicize" it. (This is for benefit of our membership in general. Southwesterners know this already.) One can be a lousy cook, but good red powder will make an excellent chile. A good cook can make a marvel with it. Good chile molida, whether it's mild, mediano, or hot, has a delightful flavor. If it happens to be a hot (picante or picoso) variety, just use less of it (or if you've made a mistake, throw in a square or two of semisweet baking chocolate to take out the heat). In addition to what's in the canister in the kitchen, I'm lucky to have in my freezer three or four 12-oz bags of medium-hot Chimayo (i.e., Northern New Mexican) red, with seeds, hearts and veins removed. (Freezing maintains the flavor longer.) When I run out, I'll know I'm overdue for a shopping trip to the Land of Enchantment. (It occurs to me that any narcs tapping the Net might think I'm talking about other substances.)  

A chile thread sounds good to me—on Chit-chat, or Rants, wherever. I'm sure I'll learn from the professionals among us. (After all, anyone hanging out in Terlingua—the Mecca of chile (though New Mex might take exception)—is presumed to know something about it.)  

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Ah, a true chili afficianado!  Obviously you know your capsicum.  IMHO the very best chilis do come from New Mexico.  Lived out there for almost three years and I go back every chance I get.  To be continued on the chili thread that Mr. Roller started.  But please...chocolate in chili?  I don't think so!!!

And as for terminating the road rats, I'm only one man but I do my part every year.  Interestingly enough, I believe it is Alabama, maybe Mississippi, that has a one deer per day limit during the season.  They are so overrun with the critters they must do that to keep them controlled.

[Altritter]

Bengt_Phorqs—<<I'll have to try the horn thing.>>

We had a chance to validate it (again) the other night. Coming out of our neighborhood at dusk (very dim light), we spotted four or five youngsters (spring fawns and yearlings) on a large lawn to our left, looking directly at us. Because they were within range to run at, or directly in front of, our car, we blasted the horn. They took off in the opposite direction at significant speed. Tentative conclusion—it works, at least with young deer. No guarantees in the case of a large, old buck (especially when he has mating on what suffices for his mind). YMMV.

Regarding why deer tend to run toward headlights: I've read several theories, and I'm too confused to buy into any of them. Is it possible that their primitive brains are programmed to run toward light when threatened by a predator because they associate light with open space that would increase their chances of escape? (Remember, deer seem to be programmed to take a linear escape route, relying on speed rather than evasiveness. This might be because they are not as agile as other species, and cannot change direction at full speed, as some African antelopes can.)

Bengt_Forqs again: <<But please...chocolate in chili?  I don't think so!!!>>

Perhaps not at the Terlingua, Texico, Chile Cookoff, where attitudes toward chile tend to be fundamentalist. (I remember the controversy a few years ago between advocates of a "soupy" consistency and those of a "canned-dog-food" texture.) I assure you that in southern New Mexico,  a modest amount of baking chocolate was a technique for rescuing a batch of chile that is excessively picoso. I've tried it, and I think the idea has merit. I couldn't taste the chocolate, but the potency of the chile was lessened dramatically.

Something to ponder: You question adding chocolate to chile. But in New Mexico I've eaten chocolates laced with powdered chile. Delicious! (But stick to semisweet or unsweetened choc., not milk choc.)

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Something to ponder: You question adding chocolate to chile. But in New Mexico I've eaten chocolates laced with powdered chile. Delicious! (But stick to semisweet or unsweetened choc., not milk choc.)  

I think it is the sugar, an acid, that tends to neutralize the capsicum, an alkalai, in the concoction.  I don't doubt that the chili coated chocolate is tasty.  Where chili is concerned I do tend toward the fundamentalist camp.

Glad the horn worked.  I usually am so busy braking that trying to find the blasted horn on the left side controls is seldom successful.  I need to practice with the horn more when it's not needed.

[Altritter]

 I usually am so busy braking that trying to find the blasted horn on the left side controls is seldom successful.  I need to practice with the horn more when it's not needed.

+1 on that! I was writing about an experience with the family cage; on the bike, I generally remember where the horn is, but only after the fact when it's too late to make a difference. I try to practice, but we live in a community (?) that has noise-abatement ordinances, so I can't do too much of it. Didn't have that problem in the Southwest. (But I didn't have a bike then, either.   )

[Hunsta]

Here in Australia although we have a large deer population in all of the eastern states, kangaroos are the thing to watch. Read with interest some of the comments on Deer whistles. Over here we have similar devices. Ones called a shoo-roo. Works basicly on the same principal. Problem is the device is designed to alert the animal of oncoming vehicles, giving them the chance to move on. However with kangaroo`s they have a tendancey to be very skittish and will more often than not flee in the most openly direction. And as they will be most likey feeding on  the nature strip between the road and a fence line, its the road they head for.
 No wonder we put our national symbol into dog food