It’s not just deer that cause headaches for drivers, law enforcement officers and insurance adjusters.
Cattle and horses regularly manage to escape their fences and become hazards for Lyon County drivers.
“The most common kind of calls we get are animal control calls,” said Lyon County Undersheriff Richard Old. “Dogs out, livestock in the road and car-deer accidents far outweigh the number of reports of burglaries, thefts and criminal damage to property.”
A horse wandered onto a roadway this fall and was struck by a vehicle, according to an activity log from the sheriff’s office. The driver of the vehicle was not injured seriously; the horse died.
Last month, a car struck the rear of a cow on a county road. The cow walked away, but the car sustained damage. And there are the minor incidents, like sliding a vehicle into a ditch to avoid a collision.
“Horses and cattle are a yearround problem,” Old said.
Cattle on roadways are reported to the sheriff’s office at least several times a week and there is little officers can do, other than call the animals’ owners to get the cattle back inside the fences.
“What we do is we notify the animal’s owner that it’s out,” Old said. “Then that person is responsible for the damages if the animal is hit by a car.”
Deputies or the animal control officer sometimes have to pen the animals themselves when the responsible party cannot be reached.
Drivers also exacerbate the problem, by knocking down fences or hitting them hard enough to weaken them.
“The cars keep going off the road and through the fences. The drunks run through the fences. They get loose and then the cows get out,” Old said. “It’s a burden my guys can’t contend with.”
Old likened farm animals’ escapes to an act of God.
“The farmer can’t stop it from happening. If the cow gets out, the cow’s gonna get out. If it’s a bull and the cows on the other side are in heat, there’s not much that you can do to stop it,” he said.
A citizen can petition the county commission to force maintenance if animals get out repeatedly.
“The commissioners will have what they call a ‘fence viewing,’ and they can order it repaired,” Old said. “It’s long; it’s a civil process and I’m not aware of any way we write a ticket.”
Former Attorney General Carla Stovall issued an opinion in 2001 stating that animals straying outside fences is a civil, not a criminal, issue.
“The legislature also made clear that the livestock owner has to be negligent before he can be held responsible for the damages caused by his trespassing animals,” the opinion stated. ... (T)he Kansas herd law has always been considered a civil liability statute and not a criminal prohibition statute...”
Sometimes, however, repeated animal problems at one location may indicate a lack of fence maintenance or a steer or two with an inclination for jumping.
“Some of them can sure jump better than others,” said veterinarian Richard Mendoza of Emporia Veterinary Hospital. “I would say, most cows just in general would probably be able to clear something as tall as their back, just roughly as tall as their backline. ... For as big an animal as they are, they sure can jump a lot easier than you think, but for the most part, most of them don’t try it.”
Fence maintenance, unlike cows, can be controlled, and can add liability if chronic poor maintenance causes problems.
Old described a hypothetical scenario in which reports were made about cows out several times from January through March at Road 370 and Kansas Highway 99.
“On April 15, Joe Schmotz is driving down the road and hits a cow at (Road) 370 and 99,” Old said. “Now (the person responsible) is not only liable for the damages, because his cow was out wandering in the roadway, became a hazard, he’s also liable for punitive damages because it was a reasonably foreseeable risk that he did not take steps to mitigate by fixing his fences.”
Extended liability can become an issue even if an accident happens the first time an animal leaves the fence, according to Dwight Metcalf of Farmers Insurance Group.
“There’s so many scenarios. You could be liable for the punitive damages first time,” Metcalf said. “You never know what’s going to happen in court.”
Under normal circumstances, he said, auto insurance will cover the damages.
“That insurance company is going to check on that property owner and see if there have been problems in the past,” Metcalf said. It then may take action against the person responsible for the animals.
“Everything is a different scenario,” he said. “... You have a better chance of winning if it’s a long-term problem.”
Wild creatures, however, generate most of the animal accidents in Lyon County and across Kansas.
“They do millions and millions of dollars of damage a year,” Old said, cautioning drivers to “keep your eyes open every evening and every morning.”
Even then, there are no guarantees.
OId knows from personal experience that deer race out in front of moving vehicles all too often in this area.
He spent time in the hospital and weeks recuperating from a broken leg after one car-deer collisions. His vehicle was not so lucky.
“It wiped out the newest Crown Vic Interceptor in the Wabaunsee County fleet,” Old said.
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Maybe we could convince that leftwing radical Bonnie Erbe, who authored that pitiful excuse of an commentary article included in Friday's paper to move to Lyon Co and run for County Commissioner. She'd know how best to deal with the problem, push farmers and hunters out of rural areas with increased suburbia. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if one of our newly elected Commissioners doesn't share the same mentality.
Erbe's articles aren't fit to be used as bird cage liners. I certainly hope the Gazette management doesn't agree with her beliefs.
December 6, 2008 at 9:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alfalfa (anonymous) says...
Maybe sux, the laws could be written to be so constrictive that we can drive all the farmers and ranchers out of business and depend on food from other nations just like we depend on foreign oil to fuel our cars. I think it would be great to see people like you on the brink of starvation, perhaps you might then appreciate more the one industry that is still competitive in the world markets from the USA, agriculture. You also might be interested to know that the property taxes paid by all those '"gd farmers" fund most of these rural roads(other than the highways) so that "da's" such as yourself can drive around and dodge our "stinkin animals".
December 7, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
I know how to stop most of the deer-car accidents.... Take down all those darn "deer crossing" signs. Problem solved. Just joking of course.
December 7, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
There have been people who have called in that very suggestion/demand Weltha, and they were serious.
December 7, 2008 at 8:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Happiness08 (anonymous) says...
gazettesuz: you suz
December 8, 2008 at 8:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Happiness08 (anonymous) says...
oops.....sux See I can't even spell that. (If it is indeed a word)
December 8, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
LOL neighbor- It was kind of a little joke between my dad and I as a kid. I see some someone being serious about it though. What about those stop a head signs? he'd always grab head as we passed them. To funny!
December 8, 2008 at 9 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
landinkansas (anonymous) says...
gayzettesux - that is the most ignorant post I have ever seen from you, and you have posted some very ignorant comments. What a fool you are.
December 8, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
OOPS! The last line in my post should read... He'd always grab my head as we passed by the sign. My "proof" reading leaves much to be desired.
December 8, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
lol weltha, glad you clarified that, had me worried there for a minute.
Car/deer accidents and car/livestock accidents are going to happen as long as our population continues to grow and urban sprawl continues to invade further into the rural areas of our country. Contrary to what everyone has been lead to believe, the entire State of Kansas does not have excessive numbers of deer nor excessive incidents of car/deer accidents. A good example of where it does exist is in the KCKS Metro area where recent reports claim that in one city park in Johnson Co, there are over 200 deer per square mile. That is a rediculous number! They are there because they have no natural predators there, ie no hunting is allowed. Man is the only remaining predator to control the number of deer. It won't be long before starvation and disease takes hold in that park, then it will get real ugly. The area surrounding KC has been settled by suburbanites looking to get away from the core of the city and it's problems. In recent years, Kansas has reported as many as 12,000 car deer accidents a year, the largest majority of those accidents occurring in three counties in the KC metro area, Johnson, Leavenworth, and Wyandotte counties. The top ten counties reporting the most accidents were along the urban corrider from KC to Wichita along the turnpike. High human population, high traffic volume, and no hunting allowed areas are the causes of the problem. Deer are prolific breeders, without control measures(hunting), they will explode in population size.
I've been fortunate and not had major accidents with deer. My wife hit one years ago and it caused $2500 damage to our car. I've had three close calls while I was driving, I attribute my good fortune to being alert and aware that they are out there and watching for them constantly. Livestock is much easier to avoid, they rarely bolt out in front of you like deer do.
December 8, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alfalfa (anonymous) says...
I don't know if anyone else remembers this(if no one does, maybe I have dreamed it up) but it seems to me when I was at ESU about '89 or '90, a deer went through the window into the library of Butcher school, can anyone confirm that???
December 8, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
Don't recall that specific incident, but they do go thru windows of buildings on occasion when scared and confused.
December 8, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
I think "gayzettesux" should move out of Kansas if s/he can actually refer to a hard-earned income and livelyhood as "gd farmers" with a straight face....what a shame of a citizen.
December 8, 2008 at 7:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
Maybe sux should think twice next time he/she picks up a loaf of bread or a pound of burger at the store. Maybe he/she needs to spend a week in the shoes of a farmer or rancher. Probably wimp out after an afternoon would be my guess.
Sux should maybe thank the "gd farmers" for spending tireless hours in the heat combining and hauling the wheat or spending long nights pulling a calf in the blinding snow.
If they farmed or ranched for the money, there wouldnt be any left.
December 8, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )