Animal Sightings on the Road
May 22nd, 2008 by omidog
Driving home from work today, I had a very strange experience. I was puttering along, stuck in stop and go traffic as usual, and my eyes were wandering about as I rested my foot on the brake. I looked to my right, and there in plain sight right along side the highway not more than 10 or 15 feet from me was a doe eating from a small tree! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to take a second look to make sure I was really seeing this. She was just calmly standing there, munching away on some leaves as the slew of cars slowly crept by, completely undaunted. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a wild deer so closely in the middle of the day. I wish I had my camera with me!
This made me then think about how the only other times I have seen deer by the highway have been when they’ve been killed by a car. It made this sighting bittersweet, because while I was excited to see such a beautiful animal so closely, it also made me sad to realize that this is her home, and we’ve run roads right through it. Even as a beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky between the sun and rain showers during my commute, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.
During the rest of the ride, I had my eyes peeled for other animals, but things got worse as I kept driving. I passed by a sweet little raccoon, sprawled out dead in the breakdown lane; and a squirrel, or gopher or groundhog…it was hard to tell exactly what since it was mangled… and this morning I had passed by a squirrel, lifeless in the road. It breaks my heart to see animals that have been hit by cars, so I wanted to post something here to just remind everyone to be extra careful on your commute.
Seeing that deer showed me that it’s not just nighttime when animals are out and about. Even birds can swoop down and be struck mid-flight. Sometimes, animal accidents happen so fast that there’s no way you can stop them. But if we all take a bit more time to keep our eyes alert, and not rush quite so much, maybe that second look will save a life (even yours!).
Safe driving, everyone!