Had a pretty close call with a dear Sunday

[arveejay]

Riding along, cruising the highway at about 55 mph, enjoying the ride when about 1 block in front of me I see a dear run accross the highway and I quickly slow down. Got almost to where he was standing, he looked me straight in the eyes, then darted back accross the road from where he came from. Had I not seen him cross the road and slowed way down, it could have got interesting but since I had slowed down, it wasn't that close of a call. Got me wondering, do you suppose when he seen me coming at him he thought how safe he had felt before crossing the road and when he felt threatened he decided to return to where he came from because he felt safer there?

[tfb]

Well, centre-punching a deer is definitely not recommended Who knows what these daft animals are thinking...

Thankfully you were alert even if the deer wasn't!

Mike.

[marvinsc]

Several years ago my brother had a similar experience! Lucky for him he WAS in a car. In that case after the Deer ran back to where it had come from, he speeded up and the Deer made a U-Turn and plowed into the side of his car!

[tfb]

Sounds to me like our equivalent of the American deer is the Australian kangaroo; same suicidal tendencies!

[Jethro]

Last fall I was crusing down route 202 in NH when a deer ran right across the road about 100 feet in front of me. I was going about 65mph. Scared me half to death.

Later that year in Pittsburg, NH, I was on the sled probably doing 50 or 60 when I came over the crest of a hill and had a moose just standing in the middle of the trail, facing me. I locked it up (good thing I had 144 studs on the track) and came to a stop about 20 feet from it. He didn't move for a few seconds, just stared me down, then slowly walked into the woods and away. That sure made me feel like I was less important than the moose- like he was just standing his ground and how dare I interupt his daily routine.

[tfb]

Ay carumba. The only experience I can think of that comes close to that, is belting along a country road in northern New South Wales (eastern state here in Oz) one dark night, and seeing some irregular white patches suspended above the road ahead of me. I thought 'What the heck is that?' before hitting the anchors and pulling to a stop in front of a Friesian (black and white) cow. Which looked at me, chewed its cud for a few seconds, and wandered off on to the verge to join all its friends who had likewise jumped the fence for the greener pickings along the road.

A moose, however, is much bigger than a mere cow...

[Anonymous]

1. Several years ago I was driving (a cage thankfully) up highway 11 just south of North Bay. I crested a small rise and hit the binders as a bull moose was in the middle of the road. Off to the side was a cow, obviously dead. The poor guy musr have been in love for I ended up stuck there for 3 hours until wildlife officials showed and moved them! I know I wasn't about to ask him to move! 8O Take about a traffic jam!

2. Five years ago my now ex-husband purchased a brand new Chrysler Concorde. It was 18 days old when that deer literally ran into the car about half a mile from our house. We swerved to avoid it but it still hit the driver's side quarter panel, bounced off the hood and had a hoof crack the windshield at my eye level. Scared the devil out of me!

Unfortunately, we broke his legs and I had to beg an officer to shoot it and put it out of it's misery. After many tears, mercifully, he finally relented.

The damage to the car amounted to several thousand dollars. I don't even want to imagine how little would be left after a bike-deer collision!

[Sandy]

Re: Had a pretty close call with a dear Sunday

Riding along, cruising the highway at about 55 mph, enjoying the ride when about 1 block in front of me I see a dear run accross the highway and I quickly slow down. Got almost to where he was standing, he looked me straight in the eyes, then darted back accross the road from where he came from. Had I not seen him cross the road and slowed way down, it could have got interesting but since I had slowed down, it wasn't that close of a call. Got me wondering, do you suppose when he seen me coming at him he thought how safe he had felt before crossing the road and when he felt threatened he decided to return to where he came from because he felt safer there?

That is very possible. Also very possible is that there was another deer on that side of the road and the deer you saw was going back to join it. Deer don't usually travel alone and if you see one there are usually others around. If one crosses the road in front of you there is quite often a second or third not far behind. Elk, moose, bears, sheep and goats usually don't get spooked like deer and cage drivers do. If you see deer or cage drivers treat them very cautiously by slowing a bit and staying alert because when you least expect it they'll just dart out in front of you with no warning..

[Dark Jedi]

We lose 3 or 4 work pickups a year to deer in West Texas. (Ft Stockton) Loads of fun.

We tried deer wistles, which work great in Colorado... Texas deer actually crowd the road to see what that noise is.

We took them off.

[LW_Icarus]

I had a deer run into the side of my '83 buick century, smashed my front fender in to the hood, and wasted the A and C pillars along with caving in the rear passenger door. had I been a couple feet behind where I was Id have had a deer in my lap. in ohio they get huge, probably would've been the end.

always remember that when you see one deer, there are generally more. when I got hit I went the next day and looked and judging by tracks alone there had to be 30 of em or more eating in the fields there.

our local police department uses bikes and has whistlers on all their bikes, claims it greatly reduced the bike/deer collisions. I am gonna try a set on mine as well.

[arveejay]

Re: Had a pretty close call with a dear Sunday

Riding along, cruising the highway at about 55 mph, enjoying the ride when about 1 block in front of me I see a dear run accross the highway and I quickly slow down. Got almost to where he was standing, he looked me straight in the eyes, then darted back accross the road from where he came from. Had I not seen him cross the road and slowed way down, it could have got interesting but since I had slowed down, it wasn't that close of a call. Got me wondering, do you suppose when he seen me coming at him he thought how safe he had felt before crossing the road and when he felt threatened he decided to return to where he came from because he felt safer there?

That is very possible. Also very possible is that there was another deer on that side of the road and the deer you saw was going back to join it. Deer don't usually travel alone and if you see one there are usually others around. If one crosses the road in front of you there is quite often a second or third not far behind. Elk, moose, bears, sheep and goats usually don't get spooked like deer and cage drivers do. If you see deer or cage drivers treat them very cautiously by slowing a bit and staying alert because when you least expect it they'll just dart out in front of you with no warning..

I never expected the go back decision, glad I had slowed down, could have got real interesting.

[JohnnyV]

Im gonna go with the suicide idea. When deer get sick and are going to die or are afraid of dying from hunters they decide to take their own lives. He just didnt think you were a big enough vehicle to get the job done. He went back again to wait for a semi!

Tell me if this holds true for motorcycling. You shouldn't swerve to avoid hitting a deer in your car. At highway speeds slowing down to reduce the impact is your best option.

[Anonymous]

"Dear"? I thought you were talking about your wife. 8)

[Sandy]

Im gonna go with the suicide idea. When deer get sick and are going to die or are afraid of dying from hunters they decide to take their own lives. He just didnt think you were a big enough vehicle to get the job done. He went back again to wait for a semi!

Tell me if this holds true for motorcycling. You shouldn't swerve to avoid hitting a deer in your car. At highway speeds slowing down to reduce the impact is your best option.

I live in a rural setting and see wildlife and the results of vehicle/wildlife contact on a daily basis. I went for a ride last night to the next town about 30 Kms away and came back just after it got dark. On the way back I spotted least 60 to 70 elk in the fields and roadside as well as about 2 dozen deer. I've lived in this area for 26 years so I'm very familiar their habits and luckly have never had the experience of actually hitting one. Lots smoking tires and brakes at times though. Whether you swerve to avoid one or do the brake/avoid and possibly hit method is strictly a judgement call. I just have to say though I see lots of upside down vehicles in the ditch and some deaths from people doing the swerve to avoid method. My theory on the swerve method is that as you swerve the animal will most likely just take a step into your path anyway. I prefer the brake and avoid method. When you see the animal on or near the road get on the brakes hard if you're not being followed too close, as your speed decreases assess the situation and prepare to avoid hitting the animal, if that doesn't work at least you've reduced or speed when you hit it. If collision is eminent get off the brakes just before you hit. You have much better control to ride it out without the brakes locked up. Every situation is different and every animal reacts different, deer are the worst by far though for being unpredictable. One thing I do notice though is that when the howling tires get close they seem to step out of the way. Maybe they don't like the noise, I know I don't.

[ZacharyB]

Remember that if you have anti-lock brakes you should brake AND swerve (won't lock up)