Motorists in Waterford are being advised to watch out for deer on the roads.
It's after a driver accidentally hit and killed a deer near the Kendall lane on the Faithlegg road last night.
Cllr Pat Fitzgerald says people should be aware it's deer rutting season and the animals are moving around more than usual.
"From time to time in the Faithlegg and Callaghan areas we've had this problem with deer, and they're active again this year, there seems to be a lot more of them."
Pat says the driver of the car was uninjured although the car was damaged.
car damaged after accidentally hitting a deer on the road to Cheekpoint last night
Cllr Fitzgerald says it can be an unnerving and dangerous experience hitting a deer:
"The poor creature died very quickly but it's still very unnerving for a driver to experience that, first of all it's dark and they don't know what they've hit most of the time and they get out and have to check and it can be quite an experience."
If an animal is injured it can become quite aggressive also, in this case it was an adult female who died.
Cllr Fitzgerald advises that if a motorist has such an unfortunate experience, that first they need to notify the authorities, so the carcass can be removed. In this instance when the motorist went back in daylight, foxes had started to eat the carcass.
The issue was also raised at a recent meeting of councillors in the Dungarvan/Lismore area with warnings of deer frequently wandering onto the R672 Dungarvan to Clonmel road.
