I had a bit of a wildlife mishap on my way home yesterday evening. I hit an animal with my car.
I don’t like doing that. I try to avoid it. But there are times you just can’t. And it’s not like people don’t hit things on then highway from time to time. Some of us might not even be aware of it.
Smaller animals, like squirrels, barely even register. Squirrels are fairly quick, but it is often their indecision that leads to their demise. They run out into the road, decide they really don’t want to be there and start back. Or pause for a second. And end up not making it. I’ve hit a few squirrels. There’s not much you can do about it some times.
Porcupines are another. A lot of porcupines have the misconception that nothing will hurt them. They are covered with sharp, prickly things. Nothing would dare. Except a car. And there are many that end up suffering that fate. There is also the old take that if you are ever lost in the woods just find a porcupine and follow it. It’s on the way to the nearest highway.
I’ve managed to so far avoid larger animals, like racoons and deer. It’s been a close call a couple times. And bears. I have seen a couple, but managed to not hit one of those. That would likely leave a mark.
Moose are also something to avoid. We don’t see many, but there is the odd one out there. I was once passed by a moose, but that was in Newfoundland. He came up out of the ditch, ran along beside me, pulled ahead, got between me and the car in front, then headed to the other side. It all seemed very orderly and planned.
There was also a beaver standing in the middle of the 103 one day. I also managed to get by it. At the time, it was standing on it’s hind legs and seemed to be yelling at passing cars. Probably not a good thing to do.
But last night, I hit a duck. Not something that generally happens. Occasionally, you see them waking across the road, or making the attempt. I have managed to avoid those. This one was flying. Hitting a duck in flight isn’t easy. I proved that to myself many times with the old video game. The little dog in the game seemed to take a special delight in laughing at me because I wasn’t very good at it.
I feel bad for then duck that got hit, although I also know not to try to take too much evasive action with wildlife on the highway. Especially smaller critters. This one seemed to come flying out of nowhere. It was fairly low. Maybe it had taken flying lessons from a ruffed grouse. I’ve whacked a couple of them in my life. I may even have stopped to pick up the duck, but it was at highway speed and there was other traffic. And I had just finished telling people not to touch dead birds because of the avian flu thing. I don’t think this one had the flu, but maybe that was why it was flying so low. Perhaps it was coughing too hard to gain altitude.
I feel bad about it. I don’t like hitting wildlife of any kind. Not even the frogs that sometimes hop out and sit on the warm asphalt at times in the summer. I would avoid them if I could. I tried to avoid the duck, but no such luck.
It was still there this morning. I looked. Actually, I was hoping it might attract a turkey vulture, because I still haven’t seen one of those, but no luck on that front either.
I feel bad about the duck. But I’m also glad it wasn’t a bear. That wouldn’t have been good for either of us.
