Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

name         Eduardo U.
status       student
age          20s

Question -   Does the deer whistle only work for deers or can they be
used for other animals such as cow and horses, also goats. (Iam planning
a trip to baja and would like to know if the deer whistle is a good idea
for me.)
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It is not clear that deer whistles work for any animals. A local
sporting/camping store has discontinued stocking them because they were
afraid of liability in the event of an accident involving a whistle they had
sold. I don't know if there is any scientific study that shows that they are
effective.

Vince Calder
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My employer, the South Carolina DOT, has sponsored research at Clemson
University aimed at reducing deer-vehicle collisions because it is a very
costly, dangerous problem in our state.  Nationally, deer-vehicle collisions
are estimated to cause $1.2 billion in damage to people and property
annually.  (I drive quite a bit for work and typically have a near miss
every three or four years.  Thankfully, I've never hit one, but I know a lot
of people who have.)

So, you are right to be concerned about this problem.  However, based on the
research I've seen, those whistles don't even work on deer.  So, I'd save my
money and just try to be alert.  One finding of our research was that deer
collisions are most common in October, November, and December and happened
more often where roads crossed, or are near, creeks and other bodies of
water.  However, I don't know if this applies uniformly in other parts of
the country or Mexico.

Andy Johnson
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Sorry, Eduardo, maybe you should ask a hunter instead of a scientist.
I've never heard of deer whistles, I don't know whether deer are attracted or repelled by them, 
I don't know whether they are ultrasonic or human-audible, and I don't know if some operator-
technique is involved to give the sound some correct modulation or
shape or expression.
 I don't know how the hearing frequency range of deer compares with the others, and I don't 
 know whether their behavior in response to hearing it would be the same.

But actually, I doubt the behavioral inclinations would be the same.
Suppose your deer whistle lures the deer to it.  Lures work for a behavioral reason, not 
because of some science-magic.  Probably it would attract them because it resembles some 
sound that other deer sometimes make.   If so, then, different animals
probably never make the same sound, so they will not care or will merely be alerted by the 
new sound.   If you work your whistle with a different modulation that resembles some sound 
that horses or goats make, perhaps you will notice a meaningful
response.
Birds, for example, often don't care as much about the tone of the voice as about "what it 
says".

Consider it your own experiment.  It's fun to take an experiment with you on trips like this.
Jim Swenson

PS- ask yourself: what natural sound, what life situation, does your sound imitate?
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