Caution: Suicidal Deer

Truth can be stranger than fiction.

Last week I shared a poem about deer threatening to cause an accident on my way to work. Dr. Meg Sorick shared an experience she had with a deer rolling up on her hood, which in turn reminded me of an interesting experience I once had with my brother Chris.

---

I forget how many years ago this was, but as I haven’t lived in Pennsylvania since 2005 it was sometime before then. We were driving back home from a church or school function on the infamous rural back roads – little more than potholes connected with decaying asphalt or tar-and-chip compound.

Chris crested a hill and spotted a deer – a doe? – at the bottom walking in our lane and in the direction we were traveling.

See, that right there is foreshadowing – that deer wasn’t observing the rules of the road.

Always remember: ride with; walk against.

Not wanting to cause an accident, Chris slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop at the bottom of the hill as the deer continued to mosey on its merry way.

If memory serves, Chris honked the horn and flashed the lights a few times in an attempt to scare it off the road.

It had the opposite effect.

The deer stood tall, stared us down, and charged, hitting the driver’s side corner of the car, flipping over the hood, and landing in the ditch with its neck broken.

I don’t recall any actual damage to the car.