Are deer exacting their smirking revenge on humans? A recent release from State Farm Insurance may have the answer. According to the nation's largest home and auto insurer, the number of collisions between motorists and the timid mammal has far surpassed the actual increase of vehicles on the roadways in the past five years.

Drawing from its claim data ranging from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009, State Farm cited 2.4 million accidents involving deer and vehicles in the United States during the last two years. That translates roughly to 100,000 per month, and represents an 18.3-percent increase compared to five years earlier. To put it another way, one of these unfortunate encounters occurs every 26 seconds.

Among the 35 states where at least 7,000 deer-vehicle collisions occur each year — State Farm didn't factor in the percentage changes in the other states and Washington, D.C. because the lower volume of total collisions makes the percentage changes less credible — New Jersey and Nebraska witnessed the most significant increases (at 54 percent).