Of the many reasons to slow your car down, roaming livestock/wildlife on the road is definitely one of the top five.
Most drivers don’t want to get into an accident while driving. It’s pretty much the main reason that we take it easy on the road—to minimize the damage not only to ourselves, but to other drivers. Even with this in mind, we still hunker down on the gas, rushing about from one destination to the next. Now, I’ve written about this before, but for different reasons (I believed I touched on the stupidity of speeding in general). Driving about the valley this weekend, I was privy to the many wonders of nature. While cruising about at a fair pace (we have little ones and so drive ridiculously slow the majority of the time), I encountered a loose alpaca, one cow, three racoons, one brown lab, a bunch of random cats (there are many), a couple of indecisive squirrels, a family of wild turkeys and an idiot deer. All of whom got out of my way rather quickly, with the exception of the deer, who I am fairly certain was trying to hit my car, but I graciously outwitted her, leaving with all headlights in tact, thank you very much. Which is why I am happy I followed the speed limit—unlike a few hooligans who sped by me.
Now a few of these animals pack a little punch. Turkeys are beastly, while deer have those crazy legs that can absolutely fly into your windshield (I haven’t fact-checked this, but I see it happening)—all of which are good reasons to avoid hitting them. An even better reason? Not taking the life of an innocent, displaced creature is fairly high up there. This might not be an issue if we were city dwellers, but we’re not. So the next you’re out on the road, pay attention to the speed, and ask yourself if you’d be able to stop in time. If you wouldn’t be able to, consider settling down on the gas, okay? (I’m seriously hoping some of our city-dweller visitors read this.)
Hitting an animal with your car in the country is like getting a parking ticket in the city—if you’re not careful and don’t pay attention to the signs, it’s a likely probability.
