goddamnit, three deer ran in front of us on the way home...

[Flaxbee]

my husband did everything humanly possible to avoid them -- I think we were able to slow down to about 15mph and hit one of them on her flank - a glancing blow. Bumped her, pushed her, but I don't think we knocked her down. I really, really hope we didn't hurt her. Our car just has a cracked front light and the bumper / hood are just a little tiny bit warped - pushed out of alignment, but not dented. There was no blood or fur on the car.

Do you think that kind of very minimal damage to the car would translate to very minimal damage to the deer, like a bruised rump and that's all? It was really dark and I didn't see any of them leave, but we turned around twice and didn't see any deer injured by the side of the road.

I can't hurt anything - I put big spiders and even those damn stink bugs outside (little spiders get to stay where they are inside). I will just be crushed if we hurt this deer.

:cry:

[kentauros]

1. I don't know enough about animal physiology to answer that

but I know what you mean about not wanting to hurt anything living. Although I do "eliminate" roaches, I don't like to. Everything else I either leave alone (like the spiders) or find a way of getting them outside.

Yesterday on the way home I hit a squirrel and it's upset me greatly, because I know it likely died. As squirrels seem to love to do, it scampered across a four-lane thoroughfare, busy with traffic and I slowed, waiting for it to get across. Only it stopped in the middle, we locked eyes for a split second and then it rushed back in front of me. I had no time to stop at that point and still remember that sound of body against metal. A glance in the mirror showed it still in the street, maybe not quite dead, but I didn't want to keep looking at that point.

I wish humans had teleportation instead of cars/trucks.

[Flaxbee]

10. Or, we still rode horses - that would make me happy

But the choice between teleportation and horses would be nice - either mosey along, or get there instantly, depending on your mood.

"Squirrely" is a very good adjective for someone indecisive. Squirrels are really tough to avoid for that very reason - they change their minds mid-course, and if you have any traffic behind you, it is almost impossible to stop w/o getting rear-ended.

[kentauros]

11. I was thinking bicycles for the slow and scenic travel

but horses would do, too :)
(or centaurs ;))

I was reading some of that animal-messages post over in ASAH and one of the pages had all the characteristics of the different animals. For squirrels, the "quick change of direction" stood out, and that's exactly what they do. I knew that as well, but expected it to either keep going as I've seen them do, or have changed its mind a little earlier.

[KT2000]

2. Maybe this will make you feel better

We have many deer in our area. For some reason many of them are injured - mainly broken legs, hips and knees. The bone fuses so they limp. We even have one that walks on his knee. Some of them have formed a group. They are slower than the others and do not run so they have a slow moving group and the females do not have babies. They seem happy too.
I do think there is a chance you deer will make it.

[Flaxbee]

5. at least deer don't have to hunt for food...and can graze

and generally survive at low-speed living, so to speak. I hope this poor baby just has a bruised rump. The three were in the median, and just decided to cross right as we spotted them and started to slow down - so it wasn't full impact. But it could have been - sometimes the poor things just run right out in the road.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. Two related deer stories:

.
.
.
Long ago, my roommate's parents had a retirement cabin in the Poconos in
the woods by a stream -- BEAUTIFUL. She and I went up as often as possible.
.
They fed the deer in the winter and you could often look out the window
and see anywhere from a solitary animal to a small herd. We spotted one
once whose front right leg was broken with the shattered end of the bone
sticking out of the break. It was moving around pretty good on its other
3 legs. We called animal control, who informed us that, unless the deer
was down or captured, they wouldn't come out as it would be long gone by
the time they got there. They also told us deer can be remarkably resilient
and that some of the longtime residents had seen deer in that shape coming
back for several years.
.
.
.
Another time, a buddy of mine was commuting to work 40 miles each way along
an Interstate -- and one morning he stopped with several other people to help
a woman who had hit a deer fullspeed -- CRUNCHED the car and he said the
deer was crunched much worse -- broken back and serious fractures in multiple
locations. He also said it was fully conscious and writhing in a GREAT deal
of pain. He had grown up a hunter. He went to the trunk of his car, got his
Buck knife out, and came back and cut the throat of the deer to put it out
of its misery as quickly as possible.
.
One of the other "helpers" started screaming at him about what a monster he
was for "killing" the poor defenseless deer. He told me he very carefully and
very deliberately put the knife away before he let loose on HER about what a
monster SHE would be for making the deer suffer like that one second longer
than necessary.
.
Especially after hearing his story, I like to think I would... but I'm not sure
I would have the "courage" and/or the compassion to do what he did for that
deer.
.
.

[Roon]

4. My uncle knew someone that had a goat

the guy decided he didn't want the goat anymore and shot him in the head. The goat lived and cowered in the corner while this guy ran from the scene panicked. He couldn't finish off the goat. He had to call my uncle and my uncle had to finish the deed. People suck.

[Flaxbee]

7. Many people do suck.

And I'm having a hard time dealing with it these days.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. The thing that helps ME deal with it... and maybe the ONLY thing that helps me deal with it...

.
.
.
.
.
...is the number of people I know who do NOT suck.
.
.
.
Doesn't take much of them to counter a whole lotta suck.
.
.
.
We usually focus where we DECIDE to focus.
.
.
.
Enjoy, appreciate, revel in, encourage and be grateful for
the people in you life who don't suck -- and do your best
to let them get the same energy and lift from you.
.
.
.

[Suich]

9. Excellent point!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Flaxbee]

6. the thing that just freaked me out as we turned around was

if we'd found her, floundering and injured. I had no idea what we'd do - don't carry anything that could have helped put her out of pain.

Some jackass in a giant, huge-tired, pumped up pickup hit a dog in front of me a few years ago; the poor dog pulled herself across the road but her back had been broken. It was a holiday, no vets open, very small town and first snow -- the police came along and sent us all away and shot her. It was horrible, but the only humane thing to do.

[Brickbat]

12. Deer are prey animals -- it doesn't take much to kill them.

After glancing blows, they often run about 100 feet into the underbrush and then collapse. I find a lot of them where I'm at -- not really road kill because they're not on the road, but there they are.

[whistler162]

13. Did you look back and see them giving you the middle hoof?

[rrneck]

14. At 15 mph I expect she'll be ok.

Football players hit each other at that speed and don't usually suffer serious injuries. If you didn't knock her down she'll be sore as hell but I think she'll be all right.

[applegrove]

15. I posted a month ago about deer on the road. Someone pointed out to

me that maybe 5 people die a year from a bear attack while 150 are killed after running into a deer on the road. You are very lucky.