Great Western Coffee Shop

Did anyone catch something about a Japeneses rail operator is fitting whistles to its trains that sound like wolves howling. To scare deer off the tracks.

I've found an article , same ideas but barking dogs, Google "barking dogs japan trains" and several articles come up.

I heard some of it. I think they said about 150 deer had been hit, but I don't know over how long that had happened.

I recall seeing a report, and a video too - but think it might have been Canada. Serious problem in some countries; nice solution akin to a hawk, or the model owl at Bath Bus station.

See also https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-57496-7_17 - deer strikes in Sweden. But we're getting far from "lighter side".

The programme said that deer are attracted to the railway lines because they lick the moisture off the rails.

Perhaps it particularly happens in cold weather when all else is frozen.

Fascinating nonetheless! Interesting to see that there is even a journal for Railway Ecology. It also highlights how well fenced the UK rail network is compared to other countries, although I guess the cost of doing so throughout Sweden or Norway would be enormous. I see too that the American "Moose" is preferred to "Elk" - either way, quite a large animal for a train to hit.

Indian Railways have similar problems with elephants, but their approach was to have tapes of bees. See https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/06/reducing-elephant-train-collisions-india-bee-buzzing-animals-environment/ (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/06/reducing-elephant-train-collisions-india-bee-buzzing-animals-environment/).