2 in 30 people care? (Rant content)

So I'm driving home from work today thinking about what work to do on my car next. Coming around a curve I spot something brown laying on the curb and storm drain. I slow down and see its a fawn about the size of our lab puppy- it's laying there with its head up looking around.

Mind you this is a very busy four lane road heavily wooded on both sides, so I guessed the fawn had been hit.

I turn left into a parking lot and crossed the road to the baby deer. It had a patch of skin torn off its head And blood dripping from its eye socket and was obviously in shock or something. I knelt down by it trying to figure out how to at least get it out of the road.

All the while cars are flying by, barely swerving to miss the deer. ONE other car out of the probably 30 that drove by stopped to help. ONE! I think it was a mom and her son, the lady came to me to help and her son went to wave cars past us. Just as the woman went to dial the humane society, the fawn slowly got up and limped into the bushes. At least now nature can take its course.

I don't consider myself a hero or anything, but come on- out of all those people there were TWO people who gave a E36 M3 enough to stop and help an injured animal?

Give me a break. If people are so consumed in their lives that they can't take five minutes to help, our society is heading in a scary berkleying direction.

Thanks for listening..,

if it's anything like around here, another dead deer is one less car that's totalled later on and one less garden that isn't chewed down to the roots.. those things are 6 foot tall rats that do nothing but destroy.

novaderrik wrote: those things are 6 foot tall rats that do nothing but destroy.

Seems to happen a lot around here too. I hate it and always do what I can to help. In the past that has sometimes meant putting them down humanely.

Honestly, the most humane thing you can do in a situation like that is find a crow bar and hit it in the head hard enough to kill it. Letting them suffer if they are going to die anyway is cruel.

Road kills feed other animals. I wouldn't have stopped. I didn't check to see if the deer I hit with the Miata was alright. It's not like I would have purposefully hit the fawn, but I wouldn't stop. Maybe if it was a pet of someone's and had a collar (pet deer or dog...) because I have empathy for the owner losing a part of their family.

I'd help a fawn go into the woods and die, where it can be eaten by scavengers. Lots of road kill in the highway just means more road kill.

If it were a adult deer I probably would've called the game commission and had them dispatch it, then go home with lots of deer jerky.

Had something like that a couple weeks ago, only it was ducklings. Specifically, the mother duck had gotten run over by a car, and all the little ducklings were wandering around the road not knowing what to do. Most of them had already been run over as well.

I was the first to notice and care. Only one other car pulled over to help. Thankfully they have a pond that they were able to take the poor little ducklings and give them a home.

He should have crossed the street at the proper place...

Beer Baron wrote: Thankfully they have a pond that they were able to take the poor little ducklings and give them a home.

Motherduckers.

Euthanizing it was my first instinct, but I didn't even have a pocket knife. And pulling a pistol inside the city limits would have given me attention I didn't want.

I'm not promoting a "save the deer" campaign. All I'm sayin is help a brotha out man!

Cotton wrote: Seems to happen a lot around here too. I hate it and always do what I can to help. In the past that has sometimes meant putting them down humanely.

Couple weeks ago on the way home, traffic was backed up for miles. When I got to the "incident," it was a berkeleying hippy stopped on the right side of the interstate, pointing to a turtle on the other side of the interstate that was trying to make up its mind about crossing the highway during rush hour.

I give zero berkeleys about deer, too many of em as it is. On empty two lane roads, I might be convinced to stop and kick a turtle off the road.

"Couple weeks ago on the way home, traffic was backed up for miles. When I got to the "incident," it was a berkeleying hippy stopped on the right side of the interstate, pointing to a turtle on the other side of the interstate that was trying to make up its mind about crossing the highway during rush hour. "

Ugh. Unfortunately, those sort of self-righteous types give people who care about wildlife a bad name. Many websites show the correct way to handle a turtle and get it across the road safely. I've picked them up many times myself.

I've moved the turtles myself, or waited in my driveway until they mosey across. But blocking traffic (which usually leads to at least one wreck) for a small box turtle on the interstate, like you said, Les, gives tree huggers a bad name.

As for the deer, well, having hit three of them now, including the one that did $1K worth of damage to the Lexus (with a $1K deductible policy, of course), I think less is more. That one involved with the Lexus actually hit me, I didn't hit it. There are more deer than people in this state.

I've never seen a turtle crossing the road before this year. This year already I've stopped to move 3 turtles across the road (Only when traffic/road conditions permit me not being a hazzard pulling well clear of traffic and using the correct low/side grip technique Lesley mentioned) and seen 2 more that didn't get to cross before they where squashed.

Lesley wrote: "Couple weeks ago on the way home, traffic was backed up for miles. When I got to the "incident," it was a berkeleying hippy stopped on the right side of the interstate, pointing to a turtle on the other side of the interstate that was trying to make up its mind about crossing the highway during rush hour. " Ugh. Unfortunately, those sort of self-righteous types give people who care about wildlife a bad name. Many websites show the correct way to handle a turtle and get it across the road safely. I've picked them up many times myself.

years ago, I went to help a turtle across the road. Just as I was reaching down to get it, some shiny happy person swerved to squash it. He had to cross the white line on the shoulder and move over a foot into the shoulder to get it.. but he did. Surprised he did not clip me or my car in the process

I moved a 2-3' diameter snapper out of a bike path once. He was pissed. He didn't thank me for not getting hit with a mountain bike, he tried to eat me.

mad_machine wrote:

Lesley wrote: "Couple weeks ago on the way home, traffic was backed up for miles. When I got to the "incident," it was a berkeleying hippy stopped on the right side of the interstate, pointing to a turtle on the other side of the interstate that was trying to make up its mind about crossing the highway during rush hour. " Ugh. Unfortunately, those sort of self-righteous types give people who care about wildlife a bad name. Many websites show the correct way to handle a turtle and get it across the road safely. I've picked them up many times myself.

years ago, I went to help a turtle across the road. Just as I was reaching down to get it, some shiny happy person swerved to squash it. He had to cross the white line on the shoulder and move over a foot into the shoulder to get it.. but he did. Surprised he did not clip me or my car in the process

What kind of a loser...

If you ask me, this guys faux turtle should have been filled with C4.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/college-students-turtle-project-takes-dark-twist

Deer are problem in Michigan too. Having lived here all my life I'm fortunate to have only hit one on the highway. It was expensive and definitely sucked.

I do love animals and seeing them in nature, where they belong. If it were an adult deer I would have kept going.

I would have stopped for the ducks too...

Dr. Hess wrote: I've moved the turtles myself, or waited in my driveway until they mosey across. But blocking traffic (which usually leads to at least one wreck) for a small box turtle on the interstate, like you said, Les, gives tree huggers a bad name. As for the deer, well, having hit three of them now, including the one that did $1K worth of damage to the Lexus (with a $1K deductible policy, of course), I think less is more. That one involved with the Lexus actually hit me, I didn't hit it. There are more deer than people in this state.

Am I the only one with the Tommy Boy roadkill scene playing in their head?

A few weeks ago, a kitten got stranded on the Mississippi bridge here in New Orleans. While a motorist was stopped trying to help it, some doushebag in a truck swerved over and killed it.

Four lane busy highway. That's reason one not to stop. You put yourself and others at risk, creating a traffic hazard.

So you stopped. And, did nothing useful. That's reason two. At least the fawn went wandering off the road, it was just as likely to go wandering into the road. That certainly would have helped things.

I've no doubt you felt the need to "do something", but really, there's little to nothing to be done. If this would have been a larger deer, you very well could have gotten hurt by the animal itself.

I disagree with you that only two people cared. It's just that only two people were willing to endanger themselves so they would watch an injured fawn die.

Busy road- we aren't talking interstate here. I parked my vehicle off the road and was in no danger of being injured. Neither did I create a hazard to others. The lady who stopped her new Caddy in the road made her own decision to stop there.

I'm well aware of what an adult deer is capable of having hunted them in the past. As I said before if it were an adult I would not have stopped. If I had the means to euthanize the fawn in a legal, humane manner I would have done so.

The fawn's chances of surviving are nil, this I'm certain of. But now nature will take its course.

I'm clearly in the minority here and I'm fine with that.

foxtrapper wrote: Four lane busy highway. That's reason one not to stop. You put yourself and others at risk, creating a traffic hazard. So you stopped. And, did nothing useful. That's reason two. At least the fawn went wandering off the road, it was just as likely to go wandering into the road. That certainly would have helped things. I've no doubt you felt the need to "do something", but really, there's little to nothing to be done. If this would have been a larger deer, you very well could have gotten hurt by the animal itself. I disagree with you that only two people cared. It's just that only two people were willing to endanger themselves so they would watch an injured fawn die.

M80's at the very least!

tuna55 wrote: What kind of a loser... If you ask me, this guys faux turtle should have been filled with C4. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/college-students-turtle-project-takes-dark-twist