Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water ..

BAM....!

You get hit by a car.

I’ve grown up in New England my whole life. Granted, I’m a city girl –but I’ve vacationed plenty in NH, Maine and Vermont. And where I live, we have our fair share of wildlife in my neighborhood – deer, coyote, fishercat, turkey, fox....actually, I just saw a wild bunny scampering across my yard last night! But I saw a sight this morning that I’d never seen before in my entire life.

A dead, rather large female doe – on the side of the road.
I’m thinking she was hit by a truck because there is no way a car alone could’ve torn her apart like this. Poor thing.

I was translating the story to one of my coworkers who grew up in Maine – waaaaaay up near Canada, and she was telling me about how it was a common event to hit deer, moose, and other animals on the road up there; everyone she knows – including herself has done it at some point. She said, “deer were born with beauty, not brains”. Clearly, if they seem to have a penchant for crossing heavily populated roads! I mean, I know it happens, and obviously I’ve seen the deer and moose crossing signs and always hoped to see some animals just grazing along the road or maybe trying to pass – which of course I would let them do. I mean, this is what happens when we encroach upon their areas.

I just never saw a dead one lying on the road, and so I suppose it brought out a little of my naivete that is still alive, but buried somewhere inside my often jaded little mind.

11 comments:

Martie said...

In southwest Michigan, dead deer in the road or along side of the road are a common occurance. They can really mess a car or light truck up to the point of needing body work. We always have to be looking to the side of the roads when traveling at night for glowing eyes to alert us that deer are in the area and on the move!

I always feel sorry fot the ones that get hit!

bigwhitehat said...

They are a road hazard. If you ever hit one, you will instantly give moral support to my hunting habit.

The fact that you haven't seen this until now makes me think that you may live in one of the few places where white tails are not overpopulated. Most states are extending deer seasons to control that problem.

Just curious, how do you know it was a doe?

chesneygirl said...

Just like Martie said, it is VERY common to see it here in Michigan...matter of fact, I probably see 2 or 3 dead deer DAILY on my 45 mile commute to and from work.

And yes, I have hit one and so has my husband.

Rebecca said...

Hi All!
Z - just guessing. No antlers...small face, but bigger body; sort of looked like all the female deer I've seen on farms?

Cheryl said...

"They" used to say that you hadn't lived in Oregon until you'd hit a deer. All too true.

William Stafford's poem "Traveling Through the Dark" is about this. It's one of my favorites. You can see it here

Anonymous said...
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Suldog said...
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Suldog said...

Obviously, my previous comment makes no sense without the other comment that was deleted, so I self-deleted my previous comment. Not that this makes one heck of a lot of sense now, either...

Susan said...

OUCH!

bigwhitehat said...

Ummm.... This time of year, none of them have antlers.

Lori said...

We see deer daily here in KS, most often they are in the pastures or fields and though it's been a common sight all of my life, I still marvel at their beauty.

On any lengthy trip, I see at least one at the side of the road that has been hit and though (knock on wood) I've not hit one myself, I know many people who have. They say there is an abundance of them, but it still makes me sad to see them.