St. Ansgar, IA (KIMT) - If you drive a car, chances are you've seen signs for deer crossings. But there are new signs in northern Iowa that are creating a controversy.
The sign clearly has a silhouette of a jumping deer with the words "suicidal deer."
The unusual deer crossing warning popped up on Highway 105 in Mitchell County, just outside of St. Angar.
Sally Hertel lives near the sign, and says there's a need to warn drivers to be on the lookout. "Anywhere from here to Carpenter which is about seven miles away, there's a lot of deer traffic and then it's just part of living in North Iowa," she says.
But she believes the wording of this particular signs crosses a line.
"Suicide? That makes it look like a joke. I myself have never had anybody close to me decide to take their own life, but I've had a lot of friends and other people who have, and I know it's a very sensitive subject. I think it's kind of a mockery."
The Mitchell County Board of Supervisors approved the sign, and say causing controversy was not the intention.
"We happen to see one that was put up in Illinois and we thought it might be an effective way to remind people that there are a lot of deer in the area," says Stan Walk , the county supervisor. "It was not it was not meant that way and again will standby it's in there it's an affective way to explain that we have some issues here."
Others think there's a better way to remind drivers that a deer may jump in their path.
"I just came back from Austin, and there's a sign, and it's got a deer jumping, jumping in this white and orange... surround on it, and it caught my attention," Hertel says.
