Q: I see quite a few deer on the side of the road that have been hit by vehicles. What are you supposed to do if you hit a deer with your car, and why is there a red “X” on some of the carcasses?

A: If a driver hits a deer, he or she should pull over and call 911, said Sgt. R.J. Lurquin with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.

Reporting the incident is important, even if no one is injured and the damage to the car is minor, he said, adding it ultimately will save the driver time as most insurance companies want a record of the incident.

If a driver wants to keep a deer, he or she must report it and law enforcement officers carry deer tags so the appropriate information can be filled out and the deer can be processed.

Carcasses marked with an “X” show that it should be removed by the proper authorities, Lurquin said.

Dane County consistently ranks high in the number of vehicle and deer crashes in the state and deputies are accustomed to killing injured deer that aren’t dead after a crash, he said.

Lurquin had some tips for avoiding a collision with a deer. Deer can change direction very quickly, so it’s important to keep your eyes open for deer changing direction and darting back into the road, Lurquin said. Also, the old adage of “where there’s one, there’s two is pretty true,” he said.