I’ve never hit a deer. Until last night, I’d never even had a very close encounter (which is amazing considering I’ve been driving back country roads for 10 years now). Deer are really, really, stupid. I suppose I should know this from the fact that a deer ran into the back passenger window of my parents’ mini-van when my brother was driving several years ago. He didn’t hit the deer – the deer hit him. The dumb deer last night chose to run between two approaching cars that were oh, maybe 200 feet apart and going 40 miles per hour…one of which was mine. We both managed to stop. We were probably 20 feet apart by the time we did, and the deer passed right between us. And thankfully, the person behind me wasn’t tailgating, so when I hit my brakes he didn’t rear-end me. (Although, I figured it was better to be rear-ended than hit something in front of me – especially in the wagon, where the rear of the car is way behind me, and I couldn’t remember if there are airbags in it or not.) At least I know my brakes are good. We all figured out that we were still alive, there weren’t any other deer in the immediate area waiting to jump out, and moved on. I think I’d like to avoid encounters that close from now on, though – aside from the risk of injury and damage to the car, I’d feel truly awful about killing such a beautiful creature. Even if it is dumb. :P
