Op-Ed: Woman calls it irresponsible to put deer crossing signs on roads

Fargo - When a woman calls into the Fargo Y94 Playhouse radio station moaning that she cannot get any action over a complaint about deer crossings, it sounds legit, at first. Fairly soon though, the radio host realizes this lady clearly has no 'i-deer' at all.

Let's state this upfront. If you are in anyway related to this woman, now is definitely not the time to admit it. Her recent call-in to this North Dakota radio station is epic, but not in a good way. The lady identified only as "Donna," states that she wishes to voice her opinion on something that has been bothering her for a "really long time." She has tried writing to the newspaper and contacting television stations, but nobody would listen and everybody keeps blowing her off. "What's the issue?" asks the host with concern. Donna explains that over the past few years she has been in three car accidents involving deer. All of them she said, occurred "shortly after I saw a deer crossing sign on the highway." As a result, she wishes to know why the Minnesota and North Dakota Department of Transportation "allow these deer crossings to be in such high traffic areas?" Unfortunately Donna is doefully serious: "I've even seen them on the interstate!" she exclaims. "Why are we encouraging deer to cross at the interstate??" she asks outraged. As the radio host fails miserably at holding back a snicker, the woman plows forward gouging a deeper hole with each new sentiment that leaves her mouth: "It seems to me that it's so irresponsible of us to allow these deer crossings to be in an area where these deer are so likely to be struck by oncoming traffic. Wouldn't you agree?" "Errr..." responds the radio host who by now is sniggering uncontrollably. Once he finally gains enough composure to attempt an explanation that these signs aren't actually crossings for deer, but rather a warning to drivers to be cautious of animals in this particular area, dear Donna, still doesn't get it. Instead she offers her own unique plan to alleviate the problem altogether – simply relocate the deer crossing signs to nearby schools, so that both fawns and kids can safely cross the road. Hand in hoof perhaps? It's a genius idea, but err... how to get the deer there? Not a problem explains Donna, "the government can direct the deer population anywhere they want to" she explains, just "by moving that deer crossing sign." The video, uploaded to YouTube on Oct. 8 by tutufunny4u, has so far amassed more than 1.6 million hits. Really, the only question left to ask about it now, is are we being punked? Let us hope so.