SPCA Monterey County advises drivers to use extreme caution when driving to avoid hitting deer on area roadways this time of year. Fall is deer mating season on the central coast and deer are significantly more likely to be on the move near and across roadways.
The SPCA advises:
Be particularly careful at dawn and dusk when driving, especially where visibility is limited. Use of high beams when appropriate can provide a greater area of visibility.
Slow down and use extreme caution when approaching a deer standing near the side of a road. Be prepared for the deer to enter the roadway in front of the vehicle. If necessary, honk your horn and flash your lights to try to scare the deer off of the roadway.
Be alert for more deer than you may see at that moment. Where there’s one deer, there are almost always more nearby.
Use extra caution in areas where deer crossing signs are posted. These are areas where deer are known to cross roadways.
Be particularly cautious in wooded and agricultural areas.
Call The SPCA immediately if you see any injured or orphaned wildlife. Thanks to the support of donors like you, we help over 2,500 injured and orphaned wild animals every year.
Locally, areas of greatest deer activity at night are Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley Road, the Highway 68 corridor, Holman Highway, River Road, and Highway 1 from Seaside to south of Carmel.
So far in 2025, the SPCA Wildlife Center has responded to 28 reports of deer hit by cars, with most of those sadly being fatalities.
In 2024 The SPCA responded to 58 reports, with almost all the deer involved either dead on arrival or needing to be humanely euthanized immediately. The average insurance claim for deer/vehicle collisions in the United States is over $4,000 per incident.
The SPCA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is the only full service wildlife rehabilitation center serving Monterey County. We operate under permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Your support is extremely important to us, as we do not receive funding from any federal, state or local government agency. Each year, The SPCA Wildlife Center admits over 2,500 animals for treatment and care.
SPCA Monterey County is your nonprofit, independent, donor-supported humane society that has been serving the animals and people of Monterey County since 1905. The SPCA is not a chapter of any other agency and does not have a parent organization. They shelter homeless, neglected and abused pets and livestock, and provide humane education and countless other services to the community. They are the local agency you call to investigate animal cruelty, rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife, and aid domestic animals in distress.
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