Did you ever wonder what becomes of deer who don’t survive the car vs. deer encounters so frequently reported in the police log? According to Harvard Animal Control Officer Paul Willard, some of them are actually claimed for human consumption.

“There are a lot of people who like venison,” he said.

Before you wrinkle your nose at this idea, consider that many people consider venison a delicacy. Venison, though not the road-kill variety, is often on the menu at gourmet restaurants, such as nearby J’s at the Winery in Bolton.

But could road-killed deer actually be a delicacy? It depends on the extent of the injuries. Willard said that deer killed due to severe bodily trauma might not be good candidates for salvage, since ruptured organs could taint the meat, but deer that succumb to head injuries could be a different story. He said the laws in Massachusetts state that the operator of a vehicle having such a close encounter with a deer has first dibs on the carcass. If the vehicle operator doesn’t want the carcass, Willard said, he often knows people willing to claim it. Those that aren’t claimed are buried at the DPW site.

Claiming a road-killed deer is a little more complicated than it sounds, however, and is not for the squeamish. According to Willard, Massachusetts law states that people who salvage deer carcasses must take them to a nearby Mass Fish & Wildlife office for tagging. But before a dead animal is transported to one of the local offices, it needs to be disemboweled to help preserve the carcass until it can be butchered. Because time is of the essence in getting a carcass tagged and butchered, there is an 800 number people can call if the event occurs during hours other than 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Bill Davis, district manager for the Central Mass Wildlife District, said that the Environmental Police work around the clock for a number of reasons and are available to tag deer if needed. (The number is 800-632-8075.)

Davis said that tagging road-killed deer is a process that allows wildlife managers to collect data about the animals—date, time, and location of the kill; size, sex, and approximate age; and antler beam diameter. Davis said this information, along with the same information gathered from deer killed during hunting season, is entered into a database that helps Mass Wildlife manage the deer population throughout the state. The department has target deer-density goals for a number of zones across the state, he said, based on the ecology and population density characteristics of those zones. The population is managed in part by the dates set for the legal hunting season and the number of deer allowed per hunter. Davis said that tagging of a deer, whether killed by a car or during a hunt, makes it legal for a person to possess the carcass and have it butchered. Butchers, he said, will not process a carcass that has not been tagged.

Davis said there are a significant number of deer killed on Massachusetts roads and highways annually, and many are salvaged.

“We tag several dozen a year,” he said.

Willard said that in Harvard, roughly six deer per year are killed on the roads, usually during the winter months, and that about half are usually claimed by someone.