So what do you do if you hit an animal?

[Stacykins]

Here, it isn't a matter of if you're gonna cream a deer, but when. There are so many of the darn things, and so many places were thick brush and woodland come right up to the road, so it is impossible to see if a deer is hovering near the road, trying to decide to cross. I haven't hit one yet. But I keep a rifle in my trunk. I drive a small sedan so there is a high chance the strike won't kill the deer, just wound it. I'd rather do the humane thing and put it out of its misery right away.

If I strike a domestic animal, I am definitely stopping to check if it is alive and, if so, get it help. If it is dead, I'd check for identification and get a description of the animal. I remember my mother and a friend of hers going so far as to retrieve a recently drowned dog out of a river since it had a collar, so they could call the owners. Sad, but better the owners know that Fido isn't coming home and so they can bury the poor pup.

This reminds me that my younger cousin, who works at a dairy, recently hit a cow. Wasn't near where she worked at, but it absolutely totaled her car and the poor cow had to be put down. She felt SO bad.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Deer breed in the fall and the breeding season consists of deer chasing and seeking. This increased movement (and lack of attention to their surroundings) is what causes the high number of deer vs. vehicle accidents. Forest preserves and other places that prohibit hunting have the same increase in fall deer vs auto accidents.

1. yes hunter can run deer around ,but that mostly only a week or two per year, during gun season.

2. the rut or breeding season ,buck chasing doe , the fall rut a buck will double the range he travels.

3. farmer gathering grain , will run deer out .

4. fall before hunting season , most deer heard have double their number,



So that the big reason ,more deer are hit during the fall.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Just so she knows, if her dog is in the street and some one hits it, they are liable for damages to the car (or medical bills too). The car owner is NOT responsible for the vet bills.


I know I felt horrible when I hit a cocker spaniel (I have one) that had gotten out of the temporary fencing they had around their house. He saw my car, a green version of their blue car, and ran as happy as could be toward me. I was only going about 20mph and hit both the dog and the curb trying to avoid the dog. The neighbors across the street saw what happened. The said they had warned the neighbors several times about the plastic fencing not holding the dogs in, it had been up for a couple of weeks. The dog ran off in to a deep gully. The owners were no were to be found and I had a car load of little kids all crying about the doggie. The neighbors took my info to give to the owners. Never heard from either, I should have stopped to see if the dog was okay. I would not have paid their vet bill, and I did not ask for the money it cost to fix my car.

Yes most States have fence laws.......so for those that free range ,or let their pets roam. no matter the animal if you little bantam chicken ,cause a person to wreak, you are liable for all it cost.

So if a person swearve to miss your pet or even your free range chicken. Hitting a tree and is killed, you can be charge for their death......just something people should think about before letting animals roam. Think they may be a few State where you free range ,but very very few.

 

[xchairity_casex]

Quote:
lol i was just about to say the SAME THING about the deer up here! im in baraga county. a freind of my bfs girlfreind (got that? lol) was on her way to work when she hit a deer and toteled the car i mean the car was trashed killed the deer she called into work but she did work the next day same time she took her bf car and in almost the exact same place hit another deer totaling her bf car and killing the deer. just this year my bf was out on his 4 wheeler and almost hit a small herd of deer hitting a tree instead and breaking his collar bone in three places. it really is impossable to never hit deer when living in upper MI sometiems though if your lucky you have a small car with a scooped hood and will just scoop the deer up and toss it over the back of the car like my bf old car he hit 4 deer in 2 years and every single of them would get scooped up and would roll over the car and then run off.

i always make my bf stop for turtles on the road and we move them off even if they are dead

 

[maizy'smom]

I've had three experiences with animals hit by cars, none of them my own (car.) The first was while driving to work and being about two cars behind the car that hit both of a couple of Canada Geeses. Feathers were still floating in the air. It was heart breaking. One was outright dead, but the other, though injured was flailing around trying to protect/defend its mate. I was upset for days.
The second was while taking my kids to music lessons. Again, we were about two cars behind the car that hit a possum. The poor thing was not dead, but was clearly mortally wounded. It was staggering around, falling over, no straight lines, etc. In this instance, some one had already called the police who came promptly and dispatched the poor thing.
And the third was when a local stray cat, that we had named Muriel (because of the way she meowed...it sounded like she was saying mee-yur-eow) was hit by some one driving near our house. The woman driving was so upset, she picked the cat up and came knocking on our door to see if it was ours. My daughter and I ended up taking Muriel to our vet, who couldn't help her. So we paid to put her down.
Fortunately, so far, I haven't had to find out what I would do as the driver. I hope I never do. But, especially if you have your kids in the car at the time, if you have to choose between not hitting an animal, or swerving to save the animal but putting yourself or other drivers in jeopardy, I think not risking the humans involved has its own kind of virtue. But I am a rather protective mother. I've been known to yell at squirrels who threaten to cross my path, telling them that if it comes to a choice, my kids win over them.

mm

 

[Chick15]

Well this isn't me hitting and animal (i can't drive yet) But My mom had been driving home from dunkin donuts (I was having a sleepover with a friend and she was getting us bagels) and there was this cat sitting in the middle of the road, and it didnt move when she drove past. So she came home and told me and my friend about it, so we went down the street to see what happened, we think it had broken its leg, it was a stray and i suppose somebody hit it and didnt care. My brother and my friend ran home and got gloves for me, I then picked up the cat (with the gloves on) and brought him to the side of the road. We asked the nearby houses and nobody claimed the cat, so I started carrying him/her home (it was only a few houses away) but it suddenly started mewling really loudly in pain so i put him down on the side of the road again. I burst into tears (I am crying right now writing this.... embarrasing right?) because i just love animals and it broke my heart. Then he went quiet and stopped moving and i cried even more, i thought it was dead. But it wasn't, it was still alive. One of our neighbors called the pound. I don't know what happened to him/her. But even if he/she was put down, at least it would have had a few nice peaceful days before death, not dying all alone slowly, painfully and starving. And if not, i hope he/she found a nicce new home. If i ever hit a domestic animal, i will probably check if it has a collar, and if it doesn't, then call the pound, while trying to make it as comfortable as possible.

im all sad now..

 

[jtbrown]

I hit a dog, his name was Hawk. I was slamming on my brakes, he actually ran more into me than me into it. It smacked it's head so hard, I thought for sure was dead. I almost puked. So the dog ran behind a house. I was shaking like crazy, and decided I needed to tell them I hit their dog.

I walked up to the house, knocked on the door, they were having dinner. I said, is that your brown dog (went on to give description)? They said "Did he run out in the road again?" I said yes, I hit him, I am very sorry, he ran behind the house and I wanted to make sure he was okay.

At which point the guy said, "sorry about that he is always running in to the road." Then he yells "HHHHHAAAAWWWKKKKK, where you at, have you been in that road again?" He then turned around and went back in the house, leaving me standing on the stoop.

I walked away, and felt odd, what an odd reception. Do you think? I don't know what became of Hawk, but I hope he stayed out of the road!

 

[LittleChickenLady]

Quote:
I knew someone who had a dog that got hit by cars four different times. Every time he (the dog) managed to not get severely hurt.
The fourth time they had to rush him to the vet because he was just laying in the road.
When they got him there, they did x-rays and such and then found out that he just needed three staples in his head, and nothing else was wrong. The impact literally just knocked him out.

That was the last time the dog ran out in the street, though he loved to sit by the edge and watch the cars drive by.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
Why are the deer more important than the possums?


(Nevermind, I know what your answer will be, it just doesn't compute with me).


Life is life’s greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you would your own because it is your own. On life’s scale of values, the smallest is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest. ~Lloyd Biggle Jr.

Easy to answer:

Deer don't kill my chickens. One less varmint to worry about.

 

[EmtheFishLady]

Quote:
Why are the deer more important than the possums?


(Nevermind, I know what your answer will be, it just doesn't compute with me).


Life is life’s greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you would your own because it is your own. On life’s scale of values, the smallest is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest. ~Lloyd Biggle Jr.

Easy to answer:

Deer don't kill my chickens. One less varmint to worry about.

So you think you're actually going to singlehandedly have an effect of the possum population just by cruelly running them down?

I sure hope you have a backup plan to keep your chickens safe.

By your reasoning, any shark attacks would be reason enough to hunt all sharks into extinction right? Same goes for Alligators? Lions? Tigers? Bears? Oh my...