Been there......good thing they only nailed the side and not the windshield as you feared.

Is this going to get us into another post about SGI?

Poor deers...stats show they meet their fate with more cars than guns. Same thing happenned to my brother-in-law...on his way to the hunt...it was the only venison he got for the week...

Oh, deer! LDA taken out by SDA. Thank heavens you're okay.

I would be interested in stats on injuries/deaths caused by big game collisions since gun control laws have made hunting such a pain in the a**. (I do recall seeing something indicating that vehicle-deer collisions in Sask are up in recent years.)

I know that in our home area, they see only a fraction of the number of hunters they used to.

It would be irony of the first order if the laws designed to reduce deaths by "gun violence" had the unintended consequence of increasing deaths by deer collision.

I hit a deer just outside of Provost many years ago with my Dad's car. The animal did about as much damage to the car as your van. The scary moment for me was when I stopped the car to check the damage. I saw that the carcass was still on the road so I walked over to drag it off to the side. No sense someone else wrecking their car. I grab on to the antlers and as I start tugging, the deer's eyes open. As I stand there freaked out and motionless, it jumped up and ran off into the ditch and the field beyond. That was one tough deer.

PS I see someone else is posting with the qwerty name so I'll be qwerty1.

A fitting addition to the "Road-kill Diaries". Glad you weren't hit Kate. Had pretty much the same thing happen to me some years ago. There were four of them in broad daylight, newyears eve. Missed all but one. My daughters shed some tears that day.

I've seen countless vehicles smashed up by white tail collisions, though I've so far avoided it myself. White tail deer are a most persistent species. They multiply like rats, and no amount of hunting or vehiclular herbavoricide seems to quell their numbers.

They frequency of said events is, I believe, simply a side effect of the numerical quantity of the beasts. I suppose its just something we all have to live with.

A tip for anyone inexperienced in the matter. If you see one deer make a dash for it ahead of your vehicle, slow down, there are sure to be more to follow. Either that, or the confused critter will double back on his tracks.

Vans can be replaced. Very happy to know that you are OK. "Cull by car" clear an expensive proposition.

Nearly exactly the same thing happened to me.

Driving home from work down a dark country road I saw deer jumping the fence onto the road ahead of me. I slowed down. BAM.

One had jumped the fence and hit me while still in the air. The poor thing broke it's neck. I had to put it out of it's misery.

Car was trashed, tho.

In my travels across this country, I have had deer-vehicle contact made between my various vehicles and all Canadian species of deer that I am aware of...mule deer, Columbian black-tail, and white tail.

The white tail remains the only species for which I can say that the deer hit my car and not the other way around.

Make that " I'm glad you didn't get "hurt", Kate

Kate, what a gal! I'm really glad you're OK.

Sympathies Kate,for your van damage.Been there myself last yr.Coming home late eve,raining,slippery greasy dirt road,and only doing 30-40kms..deer appeared out of nowhere..everything happened so fast,I thot deer had just glanced off front of my 05 Jeep Liberty.Not so..thank God I was only 8 kms from home,as grill had smashed(plastic),and gone thru rad.Over$4,ooo.in damage!
I live in SE corner of Man.and it is not unusual in a 60km drive to work,to see at least 6-8 dead deer every day!They are a tremendous hazard here,and can't say I'm sorry to see all the city-boys out here hunting.we have had people killed,and I'm sure the ins.costs to vehicles in this area alone are monumental.
We are also blessed with bears out here..I do love to see them,but they are also a nuisance,and few killed by traffic also.Just one of the costs of living in "the boonies",wouldn't trade it tho!

Sympathies Kate,for your van damage.Been there myself last yr.Coming home late eve,raining,slippery greasy dirt road,and only doing 30-40kms..deer appeared out of nowhere..everything happened so fast,I thot deer had just glanced off front of my 05 Jeep Liberty.Not so..thank God I was only 8 kms from home,as grill had smashed(plastic),and gone thru rad.Over$4,ooo.in damage!
I live in SE corner of Man.and it is not unusual in a 60km drive to work,to see at least 6-8 dead deer every day!They are a tremendous hazard here,and can't say I'm sorry to see all the city-boys out here hunting.we have had people killed,and I'm sure the ins.costs to vehicles in this area alone are monumental.
We are also blessed with bears out here..I do love to see them,but they are also a nuisance,and few killed by traffic also.Just one of the costs of living in "the boonies",wouldn't trade it tho!

Kate 1
Deer 0

Perhaps you should consider changing the name to "Large Dead Animals?"

It's the same deal with Moose here in Newfoundland. Stupid little buggers.

Be very glad you weren't driving a Yugo! :) Glad you're safe. When's the BBQ?

Be very glad you weren't driving a Yugo! :) Glad you're safe. When's the BBQ?

You bought a fuckin' minivan?

I'm so very disappointed.
And just a little frightened, to be honest.

Just be happy it wasn't a moose. My brother in law was killed in a collision with a moose between Edmonton and Grand Prairie in 1993. They weigh a lot and it's all concentrated in their body with relatively skinny legs. Snap off their legs and you have several thousand pounds of animal coming right at you. I'm told about a dozen people meet such a fate annually on that route.

Relax. It's the dog show van. I don't drive it in real life.

It's not just Saskatchewan, Kate.

Ontario is suffering the same fate.
Deer-car collisions up - Hunters needed:
http://www.ofah.org/Sunday.Hunt/

Glad you're okay, Kate.

Care are replaceable. Bloggers are not.

My husband has hit one, been hit by one. One winter night coming home from work and going down a coulee road I noticed the eyes in the ditch, slowed down from the 15mph I was driving and put on the hazard lights etc, as an idiot was trying to pass me in the snow storm. 3 deer crossed the road, and the idiot just missed them. It was a male driver, and later I told him that in future when he sees a car in front flashing hazard lights and slowing down, in poor visibility, to pay attention and don't pass. My son had a rabbit go thru the radiator and it caused more damage than the deer did. Also, another son hit a deer at the bottom of the coulee, called the cops and they put the deer out of his misery. Car was still drivable so he headed for town, only to have another deer jump out and hit him broadside 10 miles up the road. Deer crossig signs all along that road. In Australia they have problems with kangaroos being hit by trucks. Glad your ok Kate.

My niece and her husband did 10K damage to their new car the day they bought it.

I had one run into the passenger door of my '57 chevy 40 years ago. Dented the whole door in. I just took off the interior panel and pushed/popped it out. Almost as good as new. Old cars could take a hit from a deer a lot better than the new ones, but not nearly so good in a head-on collision.

Kate, I'm glad you are safe. Deer can be deadly. Years ago we had a young father in our neighborhood killed on Halloween taking his kids trick or treating. A deer went threw his windshield. They've become suburban pests.

Between deer as road hazards and Lymes disease carriers, I no longer have any warm affectionate nostalgia towards Bambi anymore.

I had a safer incident last summer. My war department and I were headed east from Vancouver when at about the mid point of BC we saw a herd of the ugliest deer ive ever seen . we had plenty of time to slow down and get past them. Kate, on my word they were licking the yellow line. They had hair hanging from them ,spotty coats, they were kick ass ugly. So much for my idea of the noble deer.

Last year, while I was blazing along at 65 mph in the midst of a misty, dusky desert evening, a large doe mule deer decided to commit suicide by Silverado. The last thing that mulie saw was its a**hole going through its lips. The truck suffered a busted headlight and a slightly bent bumper. I was a bit stunned by the sudden carnage, but it went away.

Kate,

The good news is you are all right, these graceful deer can be a big mess when they run into you. .. I have no idea how their brains work but they really have no sense at all when it comes to fast moving vehicles. .. I have had my share of dodging them both up North and here in Texas. .. You can speed up or slow down, hit you brakes or try to swerve and they can still whack the crap out of you, been there and the deer done that.

Even small ones are dangerous so Thank the Lord you are not injured. If the people are okay the rest is just metal and venison. .. I really don’t think these wonderful tasting, elusive deer were created for our fast paced world but they thrive and survive in the most populous places and give us all a taste of the Lord’s wild kingdom. ..I love hunting these magnificent animals because it is a most humbling experience, they usually get away and that is what they do for a living.

Be glad it wasn't a moose.

had a whitetail leap, hit and slide across my windshield without even cracking the glass... saw the eyes reflecting at me in the dark and went into adrenaline fueled, nuclear, push your foot through the firewall breaking mode. late night and alone on the road were points in my favour.

also know of someone who hit a draft horse that came through on top of him... not such a happy ending.

lots of folks lose it trying to avoid the collision and end up single vehicle rollover... usually worse than just taking it on the chin.

any time you walk away from one of these is happy time... major pucker factor though.

Kate,
Glad you're OK. I agree with Dante - LDA has a nice ring to it...
If the INsurance doesn't pay for repairs, maybe you should just paint a big Band-Aid over the dent?
Bodyshop guy was just telling me about a woman who was bringing her car in to the Painless Dent Repair place for some hail damage repair when she hit a deer. She dropped it off any way and got a somewhat agrieved call later in the day saying that the front end was a little more than he could handle... While the deer dent was being dealt with, she was in a rental car and hit another deer. If she didn't have bad luck, she'd have no luck at all.

McMillan, consider yourself lucky, this time!

The rotating chair just changed paws from the Richardson Ground Squirrels to the Muskrats. (Rats with their heads in the water.)
We said go with Crows, carpet bomb the windscreen then closely follow with a flush of Partridges’ flying out of the sunset. Put a Moose in each ditch and bingo, who’s crying now.
But oh no, the Muskrats squandered their chair-animalship and insisted four White Tails could handle the job without any of us being accused of acting like a bunch of carnivores.
Well, where are those poor bucks now? Sure they’re rutting away with 72 young does but we’re back to burrow one.

Watch your toes,

bambi, thumper, dakota, trixie,
Co Chairs
Herbivorous Action Committee, Prairie Wildlife Collective

My war story is a bit more downsized:

Years ago, I had a collision between my 72 Ford Pinto and a large grouse that mis-timed flying across a country road.

The result was one dead grouse, a destroyed grill and blood and guts all over the radiator. You wouldn't think a bird could have so much blood. Helluva mess.

Going down that road a year or two later, the almost identical thing happened. But this time, the bird was about 1 second quicker and for a fraction of a second, I heard the flutter of it's wings as it went by the driver's side of the windshield and my rolled-down driver's window. That close...

Last stat I heard for Sask. was every other insurance accident claim involved hitting wildlife. It seems like such a waste. Why don't they let every farmer harvest several of the dozens of animals (some call them "Queen's Cows") he/she feeds every year.

Good on ya' Kate,
Handled it like a pro. Didn't get smunched by the semi, didn't roll the van and didn't have one come through the windshield.

Also glad to hear that it's really a dog-show van.

Pat

Well, see, I was going to get all sympathetic until I saw it was a mini-van that got injured. Those things are evil and deserve every bit of damage they get. If SGI does write it off Kate, I recommend a nice Surburban instead...

ps: Glad you're OK Kate

Well, see, I was going to get all sympathetic until I saw it was a mini-van that got injured. Those things are evil and deserve every bit of damage they get. If SGI does write it off Kate, I recommend a nice Surburban instead...

ps: Glad you're OK Kate

Sorry about your van, and that you'll have to deal with SGI. Dealing with SGI would be a comparable punishment to hanging in Iraq.

I had a deer close call a week or so ago, that made a "whoosh" noise in my driver side window that was closed.

If you have the $50 deductible policy and you collide with anything that bleeds (most humans excepted) SGI will fix it and not charge the deductible. About the only reasonable thing I've had them do I've had it done four times. Two deer, one grouse, and one duck. Don't know what the bag limit is.

Like you Kate, I'm a survivor. Glad for both of us, and all the other survivors who hunt with expensive weapons.

Len Pryor

If you have the $50 deductible policy and you collide with anything that bleeds (most humans excepted) SGI will fix it and not charge the deductible. About the only reasonable thing I've had them do. I've had it done four times. Two deer, one grouse, and one duck. Don't know what the bag limit is.

Like you Kate, I'm a survivor. Glad for both of us, and all the other survivors who hunt with expensive weapons.

Len Pryor

Glad you weren't hurt. I've managed to hit two of the buggers in the last six years, and that's just driving around Victoria. There are small herds of deer wandering around all over town, ignoring humans and enjoying buffet meals in well tended gardens. Even the navy base has it's own herd of 6-10...most were caught a couple of years ago and had tracking collars put on them to see where they go.

Good to hear eveyone's all right and you still managed to be on your way without ruining your weekend. Never fails that something like that seems to happen on your first day out.

The deer population is way out of whack all over. I wonder how much would get done about these pests, if insurance companies were to put pressure on Government or even come up with some solutions? Similar to what they've done in Alberta with hail. Moose are also a problem in Alberta. Recently there was an article by the local Fish and Game assosciation about pressuring government to put up wildlife reflectors in problem areas.

HEH. I had a similar collision with a deer back in '95, right after I brought home my new T'bird. The deer rolled down the right side of the car as it did your van. I was so pissed off I stopped, threw the car in reverse, backed over it, threw it in drive and ran over it again.
The power window on the right side never did work quite right again.

Good response time, Kate. My sister-in-law whacked one here in the Ottawa Valley last Wednesday too; all she had time to say was, "Kids, mommy's going to hit this..."

WHAM.

Not sure the overpopulation is due to gun control laws hereabouts though; my brother and all his friends take as many as they can get tags for, and there's more every year. I think it's likely the refuges created by the tree knockdowns during the 1998 Ice Storm (which affected tens of thousands of square kilometers) provided fantastic breeding and feeding, and good protection from predators.

Be that as it may - best possible outcome in both cases. Good show.

- DN

We could always declare the whitetail a 'nation', then, .... well never mind....

We could always declare the whitetail a 'nation', then, .... well never mind....

Good thinking--fast thinking--Kate!! 'Glad to see you fared better than your van.

Is all this driving worth it? How about a few dogs by the hearth? Hang all the champion ribbons over the fireplace, sit back with a good glass of wine, and reminisce about "the good old days" and "the good old dogs."

Kate:

So it has come to this!

Gaia is angry with us - she is obviously sending in suicide deer to destroy our polluting minivans, trucks and SUVs!

If only you'd been driving a Prius!

Deer eh? Wonder where Garth had them penned up?

You live in the best place to hunt deer in the world.
"World Record White Tail Deer that was taken by Milo Hanson of Biggar, SK in November of 1993 which scored 213 5/8"
The Hanson buck is my screensaver, and this time of year (hunting season) it's all I can think of.
Sask. is a mecca of waterfowling and deer hunting, I'm jealous, and plan to come back hunting again soon.

Throw a couple of those pretenderized eaters in that awful van and you and the dogs dine like kings.

Cal that's really funny!

Liver and onions for supper. Life doesn't get any better

Will you change you blog name to "Medium-sized Dead Animals"?

Well the hubby did his part and nabbed a big doe yesterday (filled his second tag, leaving his primary open for his buck), while his hunting buddy nabbed a buck. Two less to run into or rather to run into us, and venison for supper. We also got hit by a big doe last year. She glanced off the side of our Expedition leaving the smallest dent to us. She had a broken pelvis and two busted legs, and had to be put down. We've also had friends that were hit by a moose on 2 occasions (no not the same moose) and of course Steven Fletcher hit a moose that paralyzed him 30 minutes from here. It's dangerous driving this time of year. Glad the minivan and deer were the only casualties!!

Kate,

How fast were you driving at the time?

We have the black tailed deer and you often have them comming right into town here and with them come the moutian lions and there still the occasional roadkills SMEAR OF DEER

About 70mph.

Anyone who has had the slightest contact with this nation's natural terrain and indiginous fawna knows that deer are natural capitalists...the more agriculture, the more deer....Deer would much rather eat corn than poplar bark and use the excess calories to make more deer.....with the expansion of agrarian terrafoming in this nation we have doubled or tripled the population of deer...particularly whitetail. There are more deer now than when Cabot sighted Canada for the first time.

They ARE a road hazzard...that's why the signs are up along rural roadways....these are yellow backgrounds so they are a warning sign....not a novel suggesion notice for urban tourists to rubber neck at wildlife. Deer cause 4 vehicle collisions an hour in Canada and on average annually cause 18,000 personal injuries and 20 fatalities. These numbers double when you add Moose, bear and Elk. Insurance companies pay out $100 millon a year in property damage settlements due to wildlife collision.

Ranchers and farmers who must drive these roads on a daily basis have put themselves their families and property at risk for years because of the ballooning deer population yet, when they ask the various provincial wildlufe authorities ( who seem to be staffed with more PETA brownshirts than the conservation officers, wildlife managers and bioligists we once had), to cull the herds, they get curt statist replies that this is too bad but the deer "belong" there...it is the farmer that is the "hazzard".

It is this pervasive abnormal ideological morass in government that has corrupted the normal scientific methodology for determing cull rates and sound herd management and actually reduced the hunting harvest of these populations....keeping the cull too low ( many rural farming zones should issue a double deer tag)...the reproductive rate of the deer is more prolific than the means to harvest their over production in the agrarian environments.

So next time you schmuck a big Whitetail on a rural hiway smile and remember the provincial wildlife bureaucrats wearing the crispy carrot PETA tee shirt is also smiling....secure in the knowledge their perverted preservationist ideologies have culled another interloping human "blight" to wildlife. At the rate of deer-car collisions the Human "blight" in rural areas will soon be irradicated by these accidents. ;-)

Anyone who has had the slightest contact with this nation's natural terrain and indiginous fawna knows that deer are natural capitalists...the more agriculture, the more deer....Deer would much rather eat corn than poplar bark and use the excess calories to make more deer.....with the expansion of agrarian terrafoming in this nation we have doubled or tripled the population of deer...particularly whitetail. There are more deer now than when Cabot sighted Canada for the first time.

They ARE a road hazzard...that's why the signs are up along rural roadways....these are yellow backgrounds so they are a warning sign....not a novel suggesion notice for urban tourists to rubber neck at wildlife. Deer cause 4 vehicle collisions an hour in Canada and on average annually cause 18,000 personal injuries and 20 fatalities. These numbers double when you add Moose, bear and Elk. Auto assurance companies pay out $100 millon a year in property damage settlements due to wildlife collision.

Ranchers and farmers who must drive these roads on a daily basis have put themselves their families and property at risk for years because of the ballooning deer population yet, when they ask the various provincial wildlufe authorities ( who seem to be staffed with more PETA brownshirts than the conservation officers, wildlife managers and bioligists we once had), to cull the herds, they get curt statist replies that this is too bad but the deer "belong" there...it is the farmer that is the "hazzard".

It is this pervasive abnormal ideological morass in government that has corrupted the normal scientific methodology for determing cull rates and sound herd management and actually reduced the hunting harvest of these populations....keeping the cull too low ( many rural farming zones should issue a double deer tag)...the reproductive rate of the deer is more prolific than the means to harvest their over production in the agrarian environments.

So next time you schmuck a big Whitetail on a rural hiway smile and remember the provincial wildlife bureaucrats wearing the crispy carrot PETA tee shirt is also smiling....secure in the knowledge their perverted preservationist ideologies have culled another interloping human "blight" to wildlife. At the rate of deer-car collisions the Human "blight" in rural areas will soon be irradicated by these accidents. ;-)

Anyone who has had the slightest contact with this nation's natural terrain and indiginous fawna knows that deer are natural capitalists...the more agriculture, the more deer....Deer would much rather eat corn than poplar bark and use the excess calories to make more deer.....with the expansion of agrarian terrafoming in this nation we have doubled or tripled the population of deer...particularly whitetail. There are more deer now than when Cabot sighted Canada for the first time.

They ARE a road hazzard...that's why the signs are up along rural roadways....these are yellow backgrounds so they are a warning sign....not a novel suggesion notice for urban tourists to rubber neck at wildlife. Deer cause 4 vehicle collisions an hour in Canada and on average annually cause 18,000 personal injuries and 20 fatalities. These numbers double when you add Moose, bear and Elk. Insurance companies pay out $100 millon a year in property damage settlements due to wildlife collision.

Ranchers and farmers who must drive these roads on a daily basis have put themselves their families and property at risk for years because of the ballooning deer population yet, when they ask the various provincial wildlufe authorities ( who seem to be staffed with more PETA brownshirts than the conservation officers, wildlife managers and bioligists we once had), to cull the herds, they get curt statist replies that this is too bad but the deer "belong" there...it is the farmer that is the "hazzard".

It is this pervasive abnormal ideological morass in government that has corrupted the normal scientific methodology for determing cull rates and sound herd management and actually reduced the hunting harvest of these populations....keeping the cull too low ( many rural farming zones should issue a double deer tag)...the reproductive rate of the deer is more prolific than the means to harvest their over production in the agrarian environments.

So next time you schmuck a big Whitetail on a rural hiway smile and remember the provincial wildlife bureaucrats wearing the crispy carrot PETA tee shirt is also smiling....secure in the knowledge their perverted preservationist ideologies have culled another interloping human "blight" to wildlife. At the rate of deer-car collisions the Human "blight" in rural areas will soon be irradicated by these accidents. ;-)

About 70mph.

The most amazing part of this whole story is you have no crap in your garage!

Glad you're O.K.

Best be renaming to bigdeadanimals.com

Anyone who has had the slightest contact with this nation's natural terrain and indiginous fawna knows that deer are natural capitalists...the more agriculture, the more deer....Deer would much rather eat corn than poplar bark and use the excess calories to make more deer.....with the expansion of agrarian terrafoming in this nation we have doubled or tripled the population of deer...particularly whitetail. There are more deer now than when Cabot sighted Canada for the first time.

They ARE a road hazzard...that's why the signs are up along rural roadways....these are yellow backgrounds so they are a warning sign....not a novel suggesion notice for urban tourists to rubber neck at wildlife. Deer cause 4 vehicle collisions an hour in Canada and on average annually cause 18,000 personal injuries and 20 fatalities. These numbers double when you add Moose, bear and Elk. Auto assurance companies pay out $100 millon a year in property damage settlements due to wildlife collision.

Ranchers and farmers who must drive these roads on a daily basis have put themselves their families and property at risk for years because of the ballooning deer population yet, when they ask the various provincial wildlufe authorities ( who seem to be staffed with more PETA brownshirts than the conservation officers, wildlife managers and bioligists we once had), to cull the herds, they get curt statist replies that this is too bad but the deer "belong" there...it is the farmer that is the "hazzard".

It is this pervasive abnormal ideological morass in government that has corrupted the normal scientific methodology for determing cull rates and sound herd management and actually reduced the hunting harvest of these populations....keeping the cull too low ( many rural farming zones should issue a double deer tag)...the reproductive rate of the deer is more prolific than the means to harvest their over production in the agrarian environments.

So next time you schmuck a big Whitetail on a rural hiway smile and remember the provincial wildlife bureaucrats wearing the crispy carrot PETA tee shirt is also smiling....secure in the knowledge their perverted preservationist ideologies have culled another interloping human "blight" to wildlife. At the rate of deer-car collisions the Human "blight" in rural areas will soon be irradicated by these accidents. ;-)

I bet they were does. Prancing around without a thought in their heads. You rarely see the Boy deers getting wacked on the road....Just teasing.

Kate, glad to hear you're OK. Hopefully when you ordered that minivan, you ordered it with the interior roof hook & gambrel option (new for 2006 models).

Deer: The Most Dangerous large animal in North America, kills more people than Wolves, Bears and every other "predator", combined.

Given the suicide attacks it's almost to wonder if Al Quaeda has infiltrated the species.

Ten years ago, I was driving on road with 6 inches of heavy wet snow on it.

Suddenly, I see one deer start to bounce across the road. Road conditions were such that I couldn't do anything to avoid it. What made it interesting was that the one deer was followed by 8 others. Somehow, I drove through that deer conga line without a scratch on my car or on any of the deer.

RE: Dodge Caravan.

I was recently looking at maybe buying one for work. The upstate classifieds always a good selection of them for sale and many are priced less than 5000 dollars. Also I heard a buddy who works at GM say some years and models are much, much better than others.

RE: Hitting the deer.

It seems there are many many places now where there are too many deer and the number of colisions is staggering. In NY state the freakin things are everywhere, even in the cities. I find if the road is open on the shoulders, i.e. fields, I can often see them coming. It is when the trees hug the shoulders and they jump out of the trees where I have had some really close calls. My aunt hit one on a major crowded freeway going 70 and almost bought the farm. They easily jump those 8 foot fences.

Ten years ago, I was driving on road with 6 inches of heavy wet snow on it.

Suddenly, I see one deer start to bounce across the road. Road conditions were such that I couldn't do anything to avoid it. What made it interesting was that the one deer was followed by 8 others. Somehow, I drove through that deer conga line without a scratch on my car or on any of the deer.

Hi Kate,

My first post here and I must say... looks you've been quite busy with your blog and website.

I must confess I've never hit a deer, but I did have a posessed bat turn the inside of my car into rodeo while I was driving down the higway once. I took out a sign and ran off into a ditch. Then... the little shit took off before the cops showed up.

The guy didn't believe me. I noticed my granola bar on the floor with some obvious chew marks in the wrapper, so I showed it to the officer who arrived.

He snickered and told me I was going to have to take a "BAT" test (and I did - twice). He actually wrote the following on the report ("bat"stard...)

Cause: "alledged bat attack"
Passengers: 1 bat
Witnesses: Bat
Witness contact info: Bat left the scene of the accident. No info available.

Description: While driving down S. on Hwy xxx, driver claims he was attacked by a bat causing him to loose control of the vehicle and hit a road sign. Driver claims bat broke into his car and stole a granola bar.

Driver was disgruntled and un-cooperative. BAT test inconclusive.

It cost me $1,500, but I learned not to leave my windows cracked at night...

Hey Kate... I LOVE the helmet with the "moon" shot and I must have one. How can I order one and how much?

Thanks for that tip LikeITontop. Being on the farm I often leave windows open etc. The thought of a bat for a passenger just made my hair stand up straight. Funny story. I know just the people to send it to...

Kate; what's with all the multiple posts? I noticed you even have a double.

If you want to get a helmet painted, send me an email to kate@katewerk.com

Be sure to put helmet painting or something like that in the subject line, or it may get missed in the spam.

This whole story reinforces the wisdom of owning large vehicles when living in rural areas - I somehow doubt that we'd be reading this post if Kate was driving an urban-chic Smart Car, or a Mini, new or old version.

The Caravan is the smallest vehicle I've driven for a very long time. I've hit so many deer over the years, I've lost count - in full sized vans. The first thing I"d install on my dog truck was a heavy metal grill guard, because you just _knew_ it was going to happen.

But I don't handle dogs for $$ anymore, and having to foot the fuel bills alone to make trips to the Us east coast and elsewhere forced me to compromise and go minivan. If I had my druthers, I'd be in a 4 door Dodge diesel.

Hey! Maybe it's time for a pledge drive... let's see... 1000 readers at $20 each....

First time post. Love the blog. Re deer etc, long and short, the cuddlies/peta/etc have perptuated the "Disney" generation. They walk, talk, cuddle, and are compassionate. Whoops, real world, it's survival.
They have no natural predators to speak of in any numbers, aren't scared of humans and civilization, the habitat is excellent, hunters are being legislated into oblivion (relates to no fear thing and civilization), any wonder they thrive and pro-create??
On the flats of the Mid West Sask/Alta prairies beware the new threat, Moose, you think deer are bad, try hitting one of these sweeties.
Coyotes on the prowl in urban areas, cougars on prowl in urban areas, wolves in bush camps, etc. Loss of natural fear a big factor.
I don't have a lot of sympathy for greens and tree huggers that encounter the emboldend wildlife, they should really appreciate what they've done and accomplished!
Total disconnect from the real world as it existed and natures laws. TTFN, all the best. Heads up, y'all!!!!

First time post. Love the blog. Re deer etc, long and short, the cuddlies/peta/etc have perptuated the "Disney" generation. They walk, talk, cuddle, and are compassionate. Whoops, real world, it's survival.
They have no natural predators to speak of in any numbers, aren't scared of humans and civilization, the habitat is excellent, hunters are being legislated into oblivion (relates to no fear thing and civilization), any wonder they thrive and pro-create??
On the flats of the Mid West Sask/Alta prairies beware the new threat, Moose, you think deer are bad, try hitting one of these sweeties.
Coyotes on the prowl in urban areas, cougars on prowl in urban areas, wolves in bush camps, etc. Loss of natural fear a big factor.
I don't have a lot of sympathy for greens and tree huggers that encounter the emboldend wildlife, they should really appreciate what they've done and accomplished!
Total disconnect from the real world as it existed and natures laws. TTFN, all the best. Heads up, y'all!!!!

First time post. Love the blog. Re deer etc, long and short, the cuddlies/peta/etc have perptuated the "Disney" generation. They walk, talk, cuddle, and are compassionate. Whoops, real world, it's survival.
They have no natural predators to speak of in any numbers, aren't scared of humans and civilization, the habitat is excellent, hunters are being legislated into oblivion (relates to no fear thing and civilization), any wonder they thrive and pro-create??
On the flats of the Mid West Sask/Alta prairies beware the new threat, Moose, you think deer are bad, try hitting one of these sweeties.
Coyotes on the prowl in urban areas, cougars on prowl in urban areas, wolves in bush camps, etc. Loss of natural fear a big factor.
I don't have a lot of sympathy for greens and tree huggers that encounter the emboldend wildlife, they should really appreciate what they've done and accomplished!
Total disconnect from the real world as it existed and natures laws. TTFN, all the best. Heads up, y'all!!!!

kate...over here in ON, Canada we do KPH...guess y'all out west are already a new state...lol...
Glad you handled the van so well...

Kate wrote: "Hey! Maybe it's time for a pledge drive... let's see... 1000 readers at $20 each...."

DO IT, KATE! I'll be the first in line. Just tell me where to send it...

SDA is the best entertainment going and it's the gift that just keeps on giving: in this case, a very good thing...

Being a former Prairie Type before moving to the wet coast, I have had my share of run in's with assorted wildlife, but I must relate one story.

Many moons ago I was driving down a narrow country road in my 55 Pontiac with my fibreglass cartopper boat strapped to the roof racks. The grass and brush was growing right up to the road on both sides about two to three feet high. I'm sure many of you have traveled the same kind of road. It was just about sunset and a Ruffed Grouse flew out in front of me, bounced off the windshield in a cloud of feathers and dissappeared. Imagine my surprise when I got home and got out of the car and looked into the boat and here was the grouse perched on one of the seats having enjoyed the ride. It flew away seemingly unharmed, only missing a few feathers.

Kate:
I suggest investing in a set of animal alert whistles. The good ones work great, The deer freeze in their tracks when you go by. SGI should issue them with plates but body shops don't like us using them.

Your not alone kate, I hit one on my way home from brother in laws, did about $500.00 damage. I hit another with grain truck, bent bumper. I hit one with GMC,no damage but put deer into ditch. Mom and dad drove up and I was checking it to see if it was okay, the deer got up and darted for the headlights of Mom and Dad's car and ended up standing on hood. It scampered off and was fine, so was the car and truck.
Driving oil tank truck the fist one past in front of me and like you I hit brakes worried about others and one hit side of oil truck no damage to truck but deer exploded when it went under the tires of an 80000lb oil tank truck.
The worst was hitting one near Kenosee lake with half ton truck at about 100kms/hour took out grill,hood, fender, wheel well, headlights,engine fan , both front signal lights and bug deflector. Truck needed to be towed and damage was about $6000.00. Not one part was fixed all were replaced.
Avro (your brother)
These are just the ones I remember, there has been countless near misses.

Your not alone kate, I hit one on my way home from brother in laws, did about $500.00 damage. I hit another with grain truck, bent bumper. I hit one with GMC,no damage but put deer into ditch. Mom and dad drove up and I was checking it to see if it was okay, the deer got up and darted for the headlights of Mom and Dad's car and ended up standing on hood. It scampered off and was fine, so was the car and truck.
Driving oil tank truck the fist one past in front of me and like you I hit brakes worried about others and one hit side of oil truck no damage to truck but deer exploded when it went under the tires of an 80000lb oil tank truck.
The worst was hitting one near Kenosee lake with half ton truck at about 100kms/hour took out grill,hood, fender, wheel well, headlights,engine fan , both front signal lights and bug deflector. Truck needed to be towed and damage was about $6000.00. Not one part was fixed all were replaced.
Avro (your brother)
These are just the ones I remember, there has been countless near misses.

Kate:

So... when's the BBQ?

;-)

ps: don't try this in BC with our moose!

Glad you are OK!

Unpredictability is an inescapable condition of driving which generally varies inversely with both lighting and driving experience and exponentially with speed.

It definitely helped my survival odds that my first vehicle was a '74 Chrysler Newport battleship - which was an effective answer to lack of experience. It was a more challenging vehicle to control, had less zip than a cup of green tea and had a massive bumper garanteed to win any Alex Colvillesque encounters.

I was talking to someone today and we were discussing deer collisions. His truck was in autobody shop due to a collision just recently he referred to the deer as Ditch Rats.

Some city people are losing their love affair with deer becuase the deer are comming into their yards and eating their folage and leaving a mess in their manicured yards too bad they have gome from bambi to rats with antlers