OK, I have to post this or it'll just stay bottled up -- someone ahead of us hit a deer, and didn't

[Flaxbee]

kill her, just broke both of her back legs. Drove off. Don't know how long she'd been there, but when we drove by she was struggling, poor thing, by the side of the road.

Went back, pulled over. We don't have any guns or anything like that and had no idea how to help. Some guy with his family in the truck saw us, pulled over, got out his gun and put the doe out of her misery. It's almost 10pm here and there was no place to take her, even if that were something we could have done.

I know it was the best thing to do. I know it. But it is so sad, and I just hate to think how many sweet little things like that don't have someone to help them on their way and put them out of their pain.

:cry:

Thanks for letting me write this.

[freshwest]

1. You expressed that well. Thanks for being there.

[Flaxbee]

2. That's what I keep telling myself. Being humane is sometimes so very

difficult, even when it's the best thing to do.

Thanks for reading it.

[freshwest]

3. I've had a number of experiences like that. Know that you did the right thing. I'll repeat this that

Someone else appreciated. You kept the faith, so did the one who put the doe out of her misery...

"I saw deep in the eyes of the animals the human soul look out upon me. I saw where it was born deep down under feathers and fur, or condemned for a while to roam four-footed among the brambles I caught the clinging mute glance of the prisoner and swore that I would be faithful." - Henry David Thoreau

:hug:

[Flaxbee]

4. Thank you

:hug:

[TuxedoKat]

5. So sad...

I just missed hitting one last night, thank god.

[47of74]

6. I asked the local PD once...

...they said to call them and they'd send someone over to put the deer out of its misery.

[Flaxbee]

8. if this guy hadn't pulled up behind us, and hadn't had a gun, I'd have

done that...

[SCantiGOP]

16. don't know what you call it in your state

but we have a Department of Natural Resources that will respond to any animal issue. A couple of years ago I had a fox in my front yard lying in an azalea bed (in Columbia, SC). I got within 20 feet of him and he just stared. I called them, and they said they were getting about one call a day concerning foxes with distemper. They warned me to stay away because distemper and rabies can have similar symptoms. They got there quickly, and the fox was so out of it the guy walked right up and put the noose thing on a pole around his neck. The other guy stood there with a rifle, and they warned everyone watching that if it tried to run they would have to shoot it.

[madinmaryland]

7. Sorry you saw the deer get hit. I saw a group of four deer today while

I was hiking. I think they are getting used to me invading their territory. We stared at each other for quite a while.

:hi:

[Flaxbee]

9. I didn't see this one get hit -- but I saw her by the road, in the dark,

and thought there was a problem because she wasn't lying prone like she was dead, but sort of sitting with her head up. So I had my husband pull back around - and we saw she was hurt. And by doing so, someone who could help stopped. Have no idea how long she'd been there, poor sweet thing.

:hi: mad.

[MiddleFingerMom]

10. A good friend of mine, after working fulltime and going to nightschool fulltime for 2 years...

.
.
.
... landed a GREAT job in the electronic maintenance department of the city of
Allentown -- 40 miles away in Pennsylvania at close to THREE times the salary
he was making dealing with toxic chemicals plating metal machine springs.
.
He had to commute for a month or two until he could find an apartment into
which he could move his family (23 years old, he had married a much-older
woman and was helping raise THREE children -- this was one impressive young
man).
.
One morning on the interstate, he saw a woman hit a deer at high speed and
pulled over (as she did). The deer was just "broken" so badly in so many
places that there was no chance of survival... and she was obviously
suffering. Quite a few people pulled over and just looked on helplessly.
.
My friend was a hunter. No gun, but he went to his trunk and got his
hunting knife, walked back to the deer and cut her throat so that she
would die quickly.
.
.
.
Some fucking idiot asshole started screaming at him about what a "monster"
he was.
.
.
.
This is one of the reasons I have trouble with SOME of our "fellow travelers".
.
.
.
.
.
On the other hand, one of the several years that I grew, well -- we always
referred to it as "Australian tomatoes" in a large brush-surrounded clearing
deep in the woods -- I was walking back along a trail,having just smoked some
pot (I always waited until AFTER the surreptitious work was done. I had spent
a lot of time in the woods -- up to and including a lot of field time providing
medical coverage for the scout squad in our unit... so I was VERY good at moving
very quietly without a whole lot of conscious effort.
.
Suddenly, I realized that I was in the very midst of a herd of about 10-12 deer
that were feeding along the trail. I froze... but the alpha buck soon spotted
me and raised his head, tensed and stared directly at me for about a full
minute.
.
I put out every calming, peaceful, no-threat no-harm vibe I had in me... and
after that minute, he seemed to realize that I was absolutely no danger to
those for whom he was responsible and went back to feeding.
.
I stood there frozen for 10-15 minutes and, to this day it is still one of
the most magical moments in my life.
.
.
.

[AngryAmish]

15. Deer around here have lost their fear of humans

People don't do a lot of hunting in Chicago. You see them on the golf course a lot.

[SCantiGOP]

17. I lived on Hilton Head Island in the 80s

My daughter was about 3 or 4. There is no hunting of any typoe allowed on the island. The deer have grown practically tame; in fact, they have to periodically shoot some with birth control darts to keep the population under control.
About two days before Christmas, my daughter and I were pulling into our driveway. I stopped since a deer was standing in our front yard eating berries off a bush. We sat there watching for about 10 minutes, and as you would guess, my daughter was totally convinced that it was one of Santa's reindeers doing advanced scouting operations. She spent the holidays trying to decide which reindeer it was. Special moment.

[RebelOne]

11. That is so sad. Your story made me tear up.

But there are so many deer/car accidents and either the deer or the car gets the worst of it.

[applegrove]

12. That is tough.

[Lance_Boyle]

13. Seen that before.

Guy in a truck lined up and ran over the wounded animal's head to end the suffering. Gruesome, but probably the best option when no firearms are handy and sheriff's deputies are at least 10 minutes away.

[bigwillq]

14. The deer I hit and killed

seemed to have died on impact. I got out to check both deer and car and the deer was not moving.