Looking for Love Hazardous for New Jersey Deer and Drivers

It’s the time of year when New Jersey’s deer population is looking for love, and sometimes in all the wrong places – like on the roads.

The state Department of Transportation says more than 4,700 deer have been killed by vehicles through the first week of November. That’s on pace to nearly match last year’s total of about 6,000.

Mating season makes November the deadliest month for deer-vehicle collisions. A State Farm Insurance study found 18 percent of accidents occur in November. October and December are nearly as deadly.

Those accidents cost an average of about $3,200.

The state DOT says most deer killed in northern New Jersey end up in landfills. But those killed in Passaic County are used to feed animals at Space Farms Zoo in Sussex County.