# Do deer whistles on a car really repel deer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657 "2009-11-23T17:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ManxCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@ManxCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ManxCat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/1 "2009-11-23T17:12:05Z")
My husband says those tiny plastic whistles (sold in pairs) that people put on the front of their vehicle is just a scam. I say too many people have them for it to be a scam, including our local police department vehicles. I have not been able to find any proof one way or the other. Do those tiny whistles really repel deer, or is someone just out to make a buck? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/2 "2009-11-23T17:19:03Z")
From [http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/pubs/midcon2003/KnappDeer.pdf](http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/pubs/midcon2003/KnappDeer.pdf) (PDF) > [@](#): > > A small amount of documented/published research has been completed in the area of deer auditory capabilities and their reaction to air-activated whistles. In fact, a summary of a recently published study, and possibly the documentation of a county-level study in California, will be added to the upcoming final version of the toolbox. For the most part, however, it has been found that deer hear in the same range of sound as humans. It has also generally been concluded in the studies reviewed that deer did not react to vehicle-mounted air-activated deer whistles. The ability of whistles to produce the advertised level of sound at an adequate distance has also been questioned. Additional scientifically defined research about the effectiveness of air-activated deer whistles and similar non-air-activated devices is recommended. I’ve never seen any evidence that deer whistles do anything to reduce car-deer collisions. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/3 "2009-11-23T17:20:43Z")
or a lot of doe. These say no. [http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1677/eb1677.html](http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1677/eb1677.html) [http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/021118/02111812.htm](http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/021118/02111812.htm) Can’t vouch for their veracity, just high in Google results. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/4 "2009-11-23T17:26:48Z")
[http://lutra.tamu.edu/klr/hearing.htm](http://lutra.tamu.edu/klr/hearing.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/5 "2009-11-23T17:29:22Z")
My dad used to manage a trucking company in the 80s and he said that the trucks that had them hit as many deer as the ones that didn’t. (He based that on year-end reports) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/6 "2009-11-23T17:51:15Z")
> [@ManxCat](#): > > …do those tiny whistles really repel deer, or is someone just out to make a buck? Or not, yuk yuk yuk! On an anecdotal note, I was once a passenger in a deer whistle equipped car that hit a deer. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/7 "2009-11-23T17:52:45Z")
My wife’s grandmother swears by them - and has had them on several of her past cars. Never hit a deer. I’ve responded to her that my car keys protect me from bear attacks. As long as I’ve had my car keys, I’ve never been mauled by a bear. The logic is airtight. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/8 "2009-11-23T18:44:57Z")
Crap, I can’t find my ke ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/9 "2009-11-23T18:56:28Z")
I wouldn’t base anything on how many people fall for something - nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the common man, right? ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/10 "2009-11-24T16:56:11Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > My wife’s grandmother swears by them - and has had them on several of her past cars. Never hit a deer. > > I’ve responded to her that my car keys protect me from bear attacks. As long as I’ve had my car keys, I’ve never been mauled by a bear. > > The logic is airtight. I’m with granny. Now, how do we market your bear repeller? I’m thinking Bear Bane. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/11 "2009-11-24T17:06:10Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > My wife’s grandmother swears by them - and has had them on several of her past cars. Never hit a deer. > > I’ve responded to her that my car keys protect me from bear attacks. As long as I’ve had my car keys, I’ve never been mauled by a bear. > > The logic is airtight. There’s an intersection on my way to work that is setup in such a way that you can’t make a left turn without an arrow and my motorcycle wouldn’t trigger the sensor. I went and purchased a gizmo-thingy that’s supposed to help trip the sensor. After a few weeks someone asked me if it worked. My reply “Since I put it on my bike, I haven’t been stuck at that intersection by myself without another car to trip the sensor…I guess it must be working, huh” ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/12 "2009-11-24T18:12:50Z")
Just to add another data point/semi-legitimate assessment: At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which doubles as a wildlife santuary in practice, car-deer accidents were by far the number one vehicle accident type. One evening, in the space of about an hour, I counted over 300 deer just from what I could see grazing next to the road (about 7 miles of travel). We equipped our fleet of vehicles with pairs of deer whistles; no statistically-significant difference in deer accidents involving those vehicles vs. prior years. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/13 "2009-11-24T19:02:08Z")
In the county where I grew up, a similar device was tried some years ago. I don’t know what you’d call them but they were made like vertical paddlwheels raised about three or so feet off the ground. Passing cars would cause the paddlewheels to spin, that the supposed “low frequency” sound waves that they generated (or something like that) would frighten deer. Somebody probably got a lot of money selling that idea to the State, County, or whoever set them out. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/14 "2009-11-24T19:24:17Z")
The range of frequencies that deer can hear is similar to the range that humans can. So if you can’t hear the whistles, chances are they can’t either. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/15 "2009-11-24T19:26:09Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > On an anecdotal note, I was once a passenger in a deer whistle equipped car that hit a deer. They weren’t installed backwards, were they? Because then they’d \*attract \*deer. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/16 "2009-11-25T19:59:43Z")
My father swore by the things for years, until one of the whistles was broken off by hitting a deer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/17 "2009-11-25T21:07:17Z")
> [@TerpBE](#): > > They weren’t installed backwards, were they? Because then they’d \*attract \*deer. Steven Wright joked about putting deer whistles on his rear bumper, and putting them on backwards. He drove through the woods and looked back to see a herd of deer following him down the road. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-deer-whistles-on-a-car-really-repel-deer/518657/18 "2009-11-26T03:03:44Z")
Deer whistles work about as well as your cars headlights shining in the deers eyes just before you crash into him.