LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — Lexington neighbors have taken to Facebook to help out a local woman looking to report a dead deer on the side of the road off of Pilgrim Church Road.
Action came on Wednesday as maintenance crews worked to remove the deer. But locals said this wildlife tragedy is something that happens often on these busy streets.
This is something Elaine McLemore knows all too well.
"There was already one killed a week prior off the right-hand side of the road," she said. "So, I was like, 'Well shoot, I've got to get this deer out of the middle of the road.' I said, 'What am I going to do?' So, I'm thinking who should I call. I said I'll call the South Carolina DOT and see where they can direct me."
She said SCDOT came to haul off the deer within the next four hours.
Lexington County Public Works said they see about two to three calls per month related to dead animals on the road.
Another Lexington resident said these deer getting hit were all too common right off of her old business property.
"I was formerly the owner of Lifeguard Fire Protection which was on a main road in the Gilbert area, so although a main road, pretty rural and we had lots of deer get hit," Kim Johnson, Lexington resident said.
Not only is it a big eyesore, but it can be very dangerous.
"We don't want anything that's going to cause accidents or people to do unexpected things and cause other accidents," Johnson said.
Thankfully, for SCDOT and the Lexington County public works department, removing this roadkill is their specialty.
"We discover it or we're told of it and we haul it to the landfill to be disposed of," said Brent Hyatt, Lexington county public works director.
After all, no one likes to see a smelly dead deer laying around.
If you're looking to make a report about a dead animal near you, you can call the South Carolina Department of Transportation at 855-467-2368 or file a work request on the agency's website. You can also contact the Lexington County Public Works Department at 803-785-8201 to email publicworks@lex-co.com.