And as Beck and I negotiated the twisting, narrow Catskill foothills roads deer began to cross the road in front of us. They were crouched so low they were going UNDER the guardrails. It was very dark. Very foggy. I slowed down as much as I could, but there was a car flying at me from the rear. (Why don't people drive within the scope of their headlights? ). I wanted to come to a complete stop, but because of the rapidly approaching car I couldn't. For a second there were no more deer. Then one leapt out of the woods right into the side of the front fender. I couldn't even stop then because of the maniac behind me and had to pull ahead into the end of a little road a few yards down the road. I think he hit one too, as he stopped as well, but I couldn't see.
We are fine as I was going very slowly. I really don't know if the deer was fine because it was too dark and foggy to even see it. The car...mmmm not quite so fine. No high beam headlight and it is loose in its socket, so I don't know how much damage was done there. Bumper is loose. Hood is sprung a little. They make cars nowadays to crumple easily to absorb impact. Yup they do. I feel pretty bad about this particular little bit of crumpling. I am quite fond of this particular car as it is the first thing I have ever owned that does the driveway without getting me stuck about twenty times per winter. Bah humbug.
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People just don't know how to drive slow in the fog or on black ice or in a pouring storm. Go figure. Sorry about the car. Amazing how you think you didn't even nudge him, isn't it? The best part of the whole ordeal is that someone got a beaut of a pic though! Looks like something from Halloween which is only something like six months away. I love this set!
P.S. my touchy feely side for animals says, "I hope s/he is ok".
We get the same sort of maniacs as soon as the fog rises up. Do they just think if they drive fast, they can get home sooner and avoid problems?
Love the pictures. I expect a vampire to come into them.
Thanks, Steve, I really couldn't be sure how hard we hit him or how much damage we did. The pictures were taken on the way down to the school when it was still semi-daylight. Our close encounter of the odocoileus kind was on the way home in total darkness. The worst of it was that I was aggressively watching for deer, as there are simply hundreds and hundreds of them along that road. Had there not been a nut case behind me I simply would not have hit one, as I would have stopped completely until I was sure they were gone....darn it.
Jan, tail gaiters are the single worst aspect of driving down to get Becky. The roads are narrow, winding, poorly signed and striped and at night they are dark (oddly enough). And yet fools scream up behind you champing at the bit and wanting to go eighty. Thanks, on the pictures. It was an amazingly beautiful drive in...I missed a lot more nice shots than I was able to take due to road conditions.
I am so sorry to hear about the deer and your car! But I have to rave about those beautiful photos of the fog lacing its way through the hills and trees! So quiet and serene...hard to remember how treacherous fog can be, especially on rural roads (with maniacs on the loose!).
Kimberlee, thanks so much for visiting, commenting and for your very kind words...I love taking the pictures and it kind of takes the curse off making the drive so often.
Read your column this morning, as always, and was interested in your account of the confrontation with the Schoharie County deer. one question, however. In one paragrph you said, "----we came so close to hitting a buck running from hunters ----". Did you actually see the hunters? I mean no disrespect but I shudder whenever I hear that. I have an acquaintance (not a friend) who loves to regale anyone within earshot with stories of how narrowly she/he (politically correct) escaped colliding with a deer that was being chased onto the road by a hunter. I've never met a person who has had as many near-collisions with deer and they frequently occur during months when the deer season is closed, hence there most likely are no deer hunters around but his/her description is always the same, and always involves a hunter.
PS: If those snow geese ever become troublesome I'd be willing to relieve your field of a few - during the appropriate season, of course.
Hi nomad, thanks for being a reader and for taking time to comment. We figured that it was indeed running from hunters as it was early in the season and it was bleeding from a fresh (bright red blood) wound at the top of its head. Didn't see the actual folks though and I admit it. I am far from PC about hunting...venison in the freezer and antlers on the wall here, but the deer in question was tongue-hanging-out terrified, bleeding and flying low, so we drew that conclusion, perhaps unfairly. IMHOP deer are just dumb about roads though. The dive down to the school is terrible all hours of the day and it certainly isn't open season now. lol
As to the geese, we have Canada thick on the ground, but the snows were down by that big sugar bush in Schoharie County..gone now, sadly heading on north I guess
No doubt about that being a hunted deer. I should have known better but that phrase rattles me when I hear it, mostly because of my non-hunting anti-hunting, tree-hugging, animal rights acquaintance. That's his/her favorite mantra.
Hi again nomad, isn't it frustrating that the loud and generally wrong opinions of that segment force us to rework even the way we speak and think? I find myself trying to craft what I say and write so as not to leave myself open to the animal rights wing of opinion, but of course it isn't possible because they only hear what they want to hear. Thanks so much for dropping by!
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