Well. The Thanksgiving weekend could not have gotten off to a worse start. Of all the bad things to happen, we hit a deer driving up the expressway. No one was hurt (at least in our car) and the deer had less then a second of suffering (I believe), but it was pretty awful, and I think my wife is still crying.
We had just gotten back on the expressway after getting some vegan fast food (bean burritos) and were about half a mile north of exit 212 (West Branch) on I75 in Michigan. We were in the right lane coming up on a minivan in the left lane. They were about 15 feet ahead of us. That’s when I saw the break lights, and just in front was a set of eyes looking back over a broad set of shoulders.
She was standing in the center median, about 3 feet from the lane and about 10 feet in front of the minivan. I slammed on the breaks. Then, in one fateful flash, she sprung up, and landed right in the center of the lane in front of the minivan. BOOM! In a flash, that poor deer exploded. It was horrible. The deer was in pieces in the air, and I can still hear nothing but my wife’s quiet, quivering voice: “oh no.”
The impact sent the deer through the air right in our path. We hit it dead on. It went under our car. It felt like a giant, horribly out of place speed bump. It was very quiet and sad.
It was an odd feeling. I got really numb, and the only thing I could think of was that I needed to get my wife away from this scene. She was instantly balling, and was very concerned, and scared for the deer. The car seemed to be ok, and I believed there was no good in stopping on the expressway at night, though my wife asked if we needed to make sure the deer was not suffering. If I thought there was a chance the poor thing was still alive, we would have stopped and used the Glock 26 I keep in the car.
We said a prayer for the deer (and her family and her friends) and proceeded to the next major exit to inspect the situation off the road and under the lights.
There was no damage to our car, but there was a bit of blood and hair and flesh. I took a couple pictures, if you want to see them, follow the link below.
Definitely not a good way to start my first vegetarian Thanksgiving, but I am very thankful that this did not end up worse then it did.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9398741@N07/sets/72157610285782652/
Ohhhhhhh! How incredibly sad!! I killed a deer once in high school when she ran in front of my pick up. She died instantly (thank goodness) but I couldn’t stop crying. Luckily (knock on wood) this hasn’t happened since, but it’s such a terrible feeling – especially when we’re as compassionate as we are!
I am glad you & your wife are safe though. It could have turned out much worse!
Thanks mmg, sorry to see that you hit one too. Certainly just sucks. Definitely could be worse, and we are thankful that it wasn’t!