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Oh deer ! by johnnythemonkey on 23 May 2007 9:24am

I struck a small roe deer while driving to work last night. You will all be glad to hear that I'm alright and I think the deer was too. It is a country road and luckily I spotted two deer at the side of the road from about 50 yds away. I had slowed to almost a standstill and moved over to the centre of the road as I approached them. As I started to move off again, one of them suddenly leaped right in front of me. I braked but thudded the poor thing. Amazingly there was no damage to the car [my wife's],only a few clumps of hair left on the bonnet.
There has been quite an increase in numbers of deer in recent years and two other people at my workplace have collided with them recently. There are some in the grounds of the plant where I work, which is quite a large wooded and landscaped area. Rightly or wrongly, there used to be quite a few poachers who kept the numbers in check but the penalties for possessing unlicenced guns has put a stop to that.
Oh well, Meg's car is OK, till the next parked car hits it !! Oh and no venison for dinner.

Re: Oh deer ! by Ken Dunn on 23 May 2007 10:07am

I read a couple of days ago that both the motorcyclist and deer were killed in a crash near Aberdeen at the weekend. Animals are very unpredictable on the roads, especially country ones where you can never be too sure about what is around a blind corner. We get pheasants and crows wandering across our local roads occassionally.

Re: Oh deer ! by kazzzz on 23 May 2007 10:10am

Oh poor thing :( I remember a deer jumping right across the road in front of our car, it cleared the whole road I've never seen anything jumo so far and high.
Wildlife on the road here is a big problem too, hitting a wombat is like hitting a rock:( My friend hit a kangaroo once and it went thru her windscreen into the cabin of the car still alive, and kicking, she was lucky to not be torn to bits. The kangaroo died :(

Re: Oh deer ! by Spursfan on 23 May 2007 10:35am

We live fairly near to Cannock Chase which is huge area of natural beauty, on which there are loads of deer.

My son was driving through one day with a work colleague and a deer suddenly came out of the trees on my son's side of the road just in front of him and ran across. Sadly my son had no time to stop and hit it with the nearside bit near the headlight (not sure of the 'correct' term). Naturally he stopped the car, there was a huge dent - but no deer! Luckily the car was dealt with by his employers as he has a firm's car.

We think there are two explanations. Either the deer was somehow ok, or, more likely, it was 'walking wounded' and managed to keep on running into the trees where it, probably, later died.

He doesn't usually drive that way, I can't remember why he did that day. He is based in Birmingham and usually takes the M6 (he even has a special firm's pass for the Toll). But I think if it is exceptionally busy he drives home along other roads.

Anne

Re: Oh deer ! by kazzzz on 23 May 2007 10:53am

Another friend was driving with the window open and a swarm of bees flew into her car she was stung many times and drove thru a cyclone wire fence and into a tree, she was in hospital for 6 months :(

Re: Oh deer ! by Spursfan on 23 May 2007 12:17pm

Crumbs!!!

Talking about deer, one of my fave bits of Homer-ism is when he knocks over a deer and says "D'oh! A deer! A female deer!" - taking off the Sound of Music hahahaha

Re: Oh deer ! by Lounge Trekker on 23 May 2007 5:11pm

Glad to hear you weren't injured, John.

Call it Lounge Trekker's luck, but I haven't hit one yet. We see them regularly and amazingly, most are happily grazing in the road right of way. Deer may dent your car, but you are likely to survive unscathed. I had a close call with a moose a few years ago.

Returning from a river fishing trip I pulled out to pass the vehicle in front of us that had slowed down. Then I saw why he had slowed...a female moose was cruising toward the road. She trotted out of the ditch right into my path, and for some unknown reason stopped and fell to her knees. I avoided her and in the mirror saw her get up and return to the woods.

We are lucky to be here. I was going much faster than the recommended speed and moose are so tall they often wipe out the occupants of the truck that hits them.

Lounge Trekker

Re: Oh deer ! by canaveralgumby on 23 May 2007 6:04pm

JTM, the deer habitat is probably getting plowed down and developed for farming or building. They are wandering into territory unknown to them and winding up on roads more often. Gee, just like the US!

Re: Oh deer ! by sighthound on 23 May 2007 8:35pm

And no predators to keep the population healthy and in check.

Re: Oh deer ! by Palin_Lover on 23 May 2007 10:12pm

Whoa!! Loads of deer where I live too and I'm always so scared I'm gonna hit one!! Glad you and the deer are all right, though. :)

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