MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — Cars damaged after hitting deer in the road have been flooding body shops in the Poconos for the past few weeks.
Jackie Barzev lives in Stroudsburg. She hit a buck with her new car while she was driving through the west end of Monroe County.
"I didn't even see it, to be honest. All I saw was antlers and a brown blur. I didn't even think it did too much damage to my car, but it did a lot more than I thought," Barsev recalled.
According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, we are now in the rut, their mating season. That means deer are on the move. The best thing a driver can do is stay alert, especially in areas where there are deer crossing signs.
Rich Banks owns Pocono Motion Body Shop in Stroud Township. he says this is one of the busiest years for deer collisions.
"I've been here 35 years, and last month was the busiest hit season we had in probably five years. We had 30 deer hits come in. Crazy," Banks said.
Banks says it takes less than a week to fix most of the vehicles. Damage estimates are in the thousands.
"Usually, it's a front end hit. Bumper, headlight, fender, hood — that's usually what it is."
If you do find a deer on your commute, Game Commission officials say slow down, blow your horn to urge the deer to leave the road. Don't try to go around it.
The rut goes through at least the end of November.