In the dead of night (which now comes at 6:10pm in the evening) as I was driving home along the winding roads of Highway 2, I came across a deer standing in the middle of the road. I was able to easily slow down and drive around her, but was really worried about cars behind me. So I stopped and turned on my emergency blinkers with the intent of warning people away until the deer was finished crossing the road.
Except she didn't.
She turned around and came walking towards me.
For anybody not familiar with deer, this is unprecedented. These are timid creatures which scare easily.
Not knowing what to think, I came to the conclusion that the poor thing was confused, injured, or both. Usually, I would have honked my horn in an attempt to get the deer to run away, but figured that scaring her was not the best move if she was hurt. Instead I started backing up slowly along the shoulder of the road with my emergency lights still flashing, so I could get a better look. The deer just stood there, apparently uninjured.
At least she did, until a car coming the opposite direction managed to (finally) scare her away. Off she went, probably down to the river to get a drink.
I would have joined her, but following around a deer during hunting season is probably not good for your health.
So glad to be home again.
That's really cool. I use to get pretty close to the occasional deer out near where my mom lives in the countryside, but I'd usually make a point of scaring them away if they tried to get close, because I didn't want them to learn that humans were safe to be around.
A long time ago I read an account of deer that end up on highways staring into the lights of cars. According to this report, it's the deer that are sick or dying and have lost their way. A friend of mine hit one with her car on the east coast and said she couldn't stop in time and the deer never moved.
I'm so glad I live in L.A. The only thing I have to avoid is fire and earthquakes. And Paris Hilton.
Driving home one night I came across a deer in the middle of the road. As I started to slow down, the darn thing literally ran into the side of my car - hard enough to cause $4000 damage to a Honda Civic. It was a nice buck...took off the side mirror, smashed up the side of the car, and slashed a tire with his hoof. He took off running and left me sitting there, stunned. Since when do deer ram into the sides of cars?
Posted by Lora on November 09, 2007 | Reply
We have lots of deer that come through our land. There's a small natural reservoir nearby that attracts all sorts of woodland creatures.
Just a few weeks ago, a family of six (6) ran right across our front yard, not 10 feet from our deck. They were in a hurry. I think they heard that red-light cameras were coming to Austin and they wanted to get out of town because their freedoms were going to get toppled.
Yeah, I'm bitter. What are you going to do about it, huh?
Thank you for your attempt to protect a wild animal. I am situations like this at least once a week since my house is surrounded by a forest/nature preserve. It baffles me that other drivers are not as cautious as you and I. Plus,I must also keep in mind that not only would I probably kill a deer in a collision, but my Mini Cooper would be destroyed! Now THAT would be a real tragedy!
Posted by Stephanie P on November 09, 2007 | Reply
OMG! Dave, You have to be careful around those woodland critters. I mean that could've been Satan's Bambi trying to lure you into god know's what. You should probably watch more South Park and less Nature Channel.
Then, again, it may have inherently known that you were a gentle and caring soul and that you only wish harm on idiots and assholes.
Posted by ETinNY on November 09, 2007 | Reply
Although it doesn't surprise me, I am still impressed that you took the time to look out for the deer.
One time, when I was about 22, a deer ran out in front of me and I hit it. I actually sat there holding its head while it died, waiting for the dumb animal control people. It was traumatizing and still makes me sad to this day.
So yay you if you stopped that from happening again :).
Dave, I'm with ETinNY on this one. Momma always said stay clear of raccoons when they're foaming at the mouth and smell like death, and always steer clear of deer. They're really the armed scouts of the Forested Underground Critter Kingdom and exceptionally dangerous. Especially the ones who have acquired a taste for human flesh.
The dear where I live are not scared of anything. Once, two bucks were fighting aggressively in the middle of the road (it was mating season, apparently). They looked like they wanted to kill each other, maybe that was their goal. We honked for about three minutes until they finally noticed our car and decided to end the fight. Or at least wait until we left.
Posted by kaelb on November 09, 2007 | Reply
We have a crazy number of deer around here. And in a lot of places, they aren't afraid of people at all. One park is famous for deer that will literally block up the jogging trails and not move when people are trying to go by. Joggers actually have to push them out of the way. While not really good in the grand scheme of things, it sure makes it easy to get nice deer pictures. Except I never seem to ever see any with antlers.
Husband is to be off hunting this weekend. I'd be much happier if he would just take a camera, or do what my dad did when "deer hunting," which was to sit in a tree wearing camo and just watch them, then come home and talk about how pretty they were. If only digital cameras had been around back then.
I am so glad this turned out well for you. Recently, we were on vacation with some friends and their small daughter. A deer ran out in front of us on the Blue Ridge Parkway and there was NO way to avoid hitting it. The shoulder of the road was narrow and let to 20 foot drop down to a creek and there was a car coming the other way. Unfortuntely, we hit it and it flew over the car and was killed. Being a animal lover I was hysterical, totally upset. People stopped to help us after witnessing what happened. I spent the rest of the night crying and throwing up on the side of the road. Thankfully, everyone in te car was ok.
It's nice to know other people in the world care about animals as much as I do. I'm REALLY glad everything was ok.
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
Entries Feed Comments Feed
Blogography Bits
|
|
Visit my Flickr Page Subscribe to my Mobile Feed
