Finland Farmers Have Been Spraying Their Deers With Reflective Paint In Order To Reduce Road Accidents.
Attempts to prevent motorists from hitting animals typically focus on making cars and roads safer, but the Finns are going straight to the source.
Every year, approximately 4,000 reindeer are killed in car accidents on Finnish roads, causing 15 million Euros in damage. The Finnish Reindeer Herders Association is now experimenting with reflective paint to make the large mammals more visible to drivers.
The plan is to spray reindeer antlers with reflective paint that will reflect motorists’ headlights. “The goal is to reduce traffic accidents. The spray is currently being tested on fur, but it may be even more effective on antlers because they can be seen from all sides “The chairwoman of the Reindeer Herders Association, Anne Ollila, told the Finnish news outlet YLE.
According to the Finnish newspaper Helsinging Sanomat, the majority of collisions happen in November and December, when the roads are icy and it gets darker earlier. July and August are also bad months because mosquitos “keep the deer moving.”
The majority of efforts to keep motorists from hitting animals revolve around making cars and roads safer. In Canada, one proposal suggested painting a series of reflective pinstripes across all lanes to help motorists see crossing moose. The Finns, on the other hand, are going straight to the source and painting the animals themselves.
