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tee530
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Close Encounters

Those who live and drive in the Northeastern part of the US know about the exploding deer population of recent years, caused variously by the decline in the number of both hunters and natural predators, the reforestation of former farmland, and the availability of food (i.e., your garden).

Car collisions with deer have been on the rise for a while now, to the point where I've heard that deer kill more drivers in Pennsylvania than collisions with other cars.

Well, I live in eastern Massachusetts, and while we don't have the numbers of deer that, say, New Hampshire or Michigan have, yesterday there was one too many.  Unfortunately for me and a particular deer, today there is one fewer.

The right side of the road leaving work is very densely overgrown with trees/brush/etc, and I hadn't gone more than 200 yards from the site on my way home yesterday when a deer leapt over the guardrail and crashed right into the windshield of my Subaru wagon.  I was going at about 35 mph, and the deer went right through the glass and fell straight into the passenger's front seat.  Surprising to say the least.  The animal was still kicking, so I quickly stopped (no airbags deployed) and jumped out of the car.  Glass was everywhere, most of it in the small pieces that safety glass breaks into, but still a fair amount of shards.  The deer expired within a very few minutes (no blood, broken neck?).

Car was largely undamaged except for the windshield, but it was undriveable for obvious visibility/safety reasons.  Got gloves out of the trunk (thanks, Dad, for teaching me to always have these) and hauled the carcass out of the passenger seat.  Not a large deer, maybe 50 lbs or so, so I was able to wrestle it out and carry it over the guardrail and into the woods.

Car is now back in town at our local friendly auto body shop, and I'm in a rental. I'm fine, just had to wash broken glass out of my hair last night and pick a few shards out of my hands and face.

I'm feeling pretty lucky that the deer a) wasn't larger, b) went through the passenger side rather than into my lap.  Also, that no one was in the car with me, and I was wearing glasses (front and back seats were covered with broken glass, and the rearview mirror was driven all the way into the rear compartment).  From a different perspective, the car is happy that the deer was leaping rather than at grille-level.

somewhat shaken,
Tom



You can see the marks left by skidding hooves on the car hood:

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