Though the holiday season is known for its changing leaves, Thanksgiving turkey, and Christmas lights, it is also known for something dangerous to drivers; deer.

The holiday season also happens to be mating season for deer. This is the reason why so many deer are on the roads in the latter months of the year.

With a combination of darkness early in the evening, an abundance of deer and so many drivers on the road, accidents are bound to occur.

“It’s a dangerous thing to have a deer come out onto the road in the middle of the night,” Mr. Trevor Grimshaw, Drivers Ed. Teacher, said. “People driving get in accidents all the time because they don’t know what to do when they see a deer on the road. Most people are going too fast to be able to think about it anyways.  We try to teach the kids that they do need to pay attention because it can be dangerous for you and the deer.”

The danger of deer is that they catch drivers off guard.

“It was a normal night just driving around when the deer just appeared in front of me,” Jack McDonnell (12) said. “Right away I tried to dodge it.  I overcorrected and ended up hitting a tree.”

The mistake for many drivers is the first instinct to dodge the animals.

“ That’s what a lot of drivers do right away is try to dodge the deer, which, if possible, is the right thing to do,” Officer Mike Smith, Eureka’s Resource Officer, said. “But if you have to, just hit the deer because its better to hit a deer than a brick wall or tree.”

So when out on the roads, drivers should be aware of their surroundings and prepared to react to a deer in the road.