My First Road Kill

[George7941]

I have been driving for 56 years and a few days ago I ran over a squirrel. First time I know of when I ran over an animal and I feel guilty.

Happened on an on-ramp at a bend, I was doing about 40 kph (25 mph) and the squirrel ran out when I was about 7 ft away. Felt my wheels go over something. looked back and the squirrel was lying on the road. I think the bend in the road must have confused the little guy because the bend made it look like the truck was not headed towards him.

RIP, little guy.

 

[Leo99]

There are an abnormally large number of squirrels around this year and a lot of dead ones. They are very busy preparing for winter in my neighborhood.

 

[Dinoburner]

Been there, not a good feeling. On the other hand rodents are very destructive to buildings and now vehicles. They chew on wiring causing serious problems. We are forced to deal with them.

 

[Passport1]

My first road kill was a Bambi. Hit her big sister about a month later. After that they stayed away from me.

 

[Capt]

I was driving into neighborhood 2 weeks ago and had stop dead in the road to let two juvenile squirrels move off the road (about 6'' or less nose to tail). Then today 2 adult squrrels darted to cross in front of me then changed thier mind last minute and saw them in rear view going opposite direction. I would have certainly ran them over of they did'nt reverse course... Mabye they are protesting???

 

[OVERKILL]

I have been driving for 56 years and a few days ago I ran over a squirrel. First time I know of when I ran over an animal and I feel guilty.

Happened on an on-ramp at a bend, I was doing about 40 kph (25 mph) and the squirrel ran out when I was about 7 ft away. Felt my wheels go over something. looked back and the squirrel was lying on the road. I think the bend in the road must have confused the little guy because the bend made it look like the truck was not headed towards him.

RIP, little guy.

You've been extremely lucky! The first one I actually hit (that was alive) was a racoon in our 2002 Expedition. He was a big bugger and I hit him doing about 90Km/h. He hit the front cross-member/control arm assembly on the Expedition and it launched him hard into the ditch. I immediately stopped and he was still alive but he passed while I was looking for something to put him out of his misery with.

Since then I've hit a few squirrels, a bird not that long ago and a 12-point buck last fall when I was bringing the boat down from the cottage with my wife's truck, that was definitely the worst in terms of damage and experience, there's a thread on here about it.

I expect that being so urban (Toronto) your exposure to wildlife is significantly less than we are here to your northeast. I'm often headed toward Warsaw, Havelock, Norwood...etc and I hit the deer north of Kirkfield.

 

[JimPghPA]

Last week I saw a turtle pancake on the road I walk on for exercise. I did not know there were turtles that size in the near by stream. The next day it was totally gone. Something (probably a raccoon) must of snatched it up during the night. Today there was a chipmunk pancake in almost the exact same spot that the turtle was at last week. The last couple of years there were more chipmunks and squirrels on that road than there was this year. This year I saw a big hawk sitting in a tree over the road. That may explain why the chipmunk and squirrel population is less this year.

In the past years not only were there more chipmunks on the road, there were more chipmunk pancakes on the road.

 

[OVERKILL]

Last week I saw a turtle pancake on the road I walk on for exercise. I did not know there were turtles that size in the near by stream. The next day it was totally gone. Something (probably a raccoon) must of snatched it up during the night. Today there was a chipmunk pancake in almost the exact same spot that the turtle was at last week. The last couple of years there were more chipmunks and squirrels on that road than there was this year. This year I saw a big hawk sitting in a tree over the road. That may explain why the chipmunk and squirrel population is less this year.

I've stopped and we've saved a few turtles before they got run over. I read somewhere that if you are going to move them, move them the direction they are headed or they'll just come back up onto the road again, so that's what we've been doing.

Locally, it's pretty easy to avoid hitting squirrels and chipmunks in town, in fact I've never hit one here. It's when you are rolling down some rural backroad and one pops out of the ditch and darts across in front of you that you can't avoid it.

 

[skyactiv]

I live on a narrow country road and there are little fury caterpillars that cross the road around this time of year. I don't like running over them, but it happens. I always drive slow at dark/dawn/dusk on my road and am on the lookout for deer. Rutting season is around the corner.

 

[Rand]

squirrels like to play chicken sometimes. i dont deliberately run them over.. but I dont brake or swerve for them either.. figure if they know what they doing they wont get hit..
about 99 times out of 100 its true.

 

[bbhero]

I thought this thread was going to have a mounted taxadermy animal picture in it when I first read the thread title...


Seriously now... I hate hitting any animal... Well except the possum

I have killed a full grown big deer in my Ford Fusion.. . That totalled my car. Totalled the deer too obviously.

I have ran over two squirrels... Latest one just last week... Hate that. But I am not wrecking my car.

 

[FT92]

cant remember how many critters I've ran over in the years I've been driving... I try to avoid hitting them but at times you just cant..one second there is nothing the next second there they are

 

[ctechbob]

I have ran over two squirrels... Latest one just last week... Hate that. But I am not wrecking my car.

This. My personal rule is, if it won't hit the bumper of the car, I don't swerve. I will brake depending on the animal, but swerving requires something big. The problem with swerving to avoid something is a lot of times you will develop tunnel vision. You don't realize it, but you do. Its far too easy to swerve into the incoming path of something, or off the side of the road.

My kid swerved to avoid a small dog in our neighborhood and flattened a neighbors mailbox, knocked off her mirror, and shattered the front windshield of her 2019 Civic. Needless to say, I was PO'ed. Lucky for her, the falling body landed in the same spot a month later and totalled the car out, so it became a moot point.

 

[Lubener]

I have been driving for 56 years and a few days ago I ran over a squirrel. First time I know of when I ran over an animal and I feel guilty.

Happened on an on-ramp at a bend, I was doing about 40 kph (25 mph) and the squirrel ran out when I was about 7 ft away. Felt my wheels go over something. looked back and the squirrel was lying on the road. I think the bend in the road must have confused the little guy because the bend made it look like the truck was not headed towards him.

RIP, little guy.

Been there, done that. Felt bad.

 

[doublebase]

I’ve made the “executive decision” to not slow down, swerve or make any attempt to avoid squirrels anymore. I think that decision came after time and time again, swerving/braking and almost putting me and my entire family into a tree or oncoming traffic.

As for deers and turkeys? I still swerve, stop, brake, and almost get myself killed. I have hit two turkeys over the last 3 years. They’re everywhere where I live and they just catch you totally by surprise when they decide to bolt across the street out of nowhere. I had a turkey run across the highway while I was doing 75 in the fast lane...took out of the corner of my eye and at the last second there’s a turkey trying to run and - what appeared to be fly or jump over my car - he didn’t make it. Thing took out my passenger side mirror. Drove the rest of the way to work with my mirror hanging on by wires, flapping in the breeze. Probably a good $1,000 in damage. Probably deserved it after all the squirrels I’ve hit.

 

[ABN_CBT_ENGR]

Personally I hate it for you and with you ( no sane human "wants" to hit anything with a vehicle) but if the choice is between a possible wreck/injury to human versus an animal- the animal has already lost.

Not to say don't make a legitimate attempt to avoid, there are times its safe to do ( depending on variables at the time) but there are also times the best and safest course is to sound the collision alarm and proceed. ( judgment call too often made in a micro second and sometimes with consequences)

Not an easy or even static decision and every case is different

 

[Aredeeem]

Mine was a turkey vulture. Slow takeoff from a roadside deer feast put him right in my sights as I passed. Pushed the hood back ever so slightly but no real damage.

 

[Rob_Roy]

At least it was something small. I hit a huge raccoon last fall with my Expedition. Luckily it went right under the front tire and missed the air dam/bumper. After the way it felt in the wheel I was shocked there was no damage.

 

[Aredeeem]

Yes. Actually they’re big. Six foot wing span, but they are very light for their size. Max 4 lbs or so. Hence the light damage to my lightweight car.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

When I was a teenager on my way to a friend's house, I accidently and unknowingly hit someone's cat as she darted in front of me from behind a bush. It happened so fast I didn't know what happened, all I saw was a quick flash of movement. I slowed down and looked in my rearview mirror and didn't see anything. I parked in his driveway and immediately heard the owner two houses away screaming and the cat wailing in pain. I ran back there and was promptly screamed at by the owner as she held her bloodied pet, but all I could hear was the horrific sounds this poor animal was making. I'll never forget it. To this day I can't stand to hear an animal in distress. It upsets me immediately.