# Have you ever hit an animal with your vehicle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703 "2014-09-17T02:20:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/1 "2014-09-17T02:20:33Z")
In my nearly 30 years of driving experience, I’ve been lucky enough to have sent only one creature to meet its maker. It was a raccoon who happened to be trying to cross the highway when I was on my way home from a convenience store job at 1:00 in the morning. I nailed him at 50 mph with a 1977 Ford LTD. I still feel bad about it sometimes. How about the rest of you? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/2 "2014-09-17T02:22:32Z")
One time an owl flew in front of me and was still alive and on my grill when I got home. He died shortly after removing him. I would have stopped had I known he was there. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/3 "2014-09-17T02:27:23Z")
Hit a squirrel once. And I’m pretty sure I’ve taken out a few birds on rural roads (where they all seem to want to hang out on the shoulders and fly in front of cars) but never saw a carcass in my grill. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/4 "2014-09-17T02:28:36Z")
Light tap on a deer, mashed a gigantic opossum, several squirrels, a couple of birds, a snake one time in southern Louisiana. People tell me the spray-painted silhouettes on the driver’s door are in bad taste. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/5 "2014-09-17T02:32:54Z")
Bunch of animals, mostly squirrels, at least one skunk that wasn’t already dead. I put a deer on the list, he was probably dead, at least mostly dead, but not all the way dead. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/6 "2014-09-17T02:34:14Z")
Chipmunk, squirrel, bird, snake, lizard, a million bugs. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/7 "2014-09-17T02:43:02Z")
Raccoon. Did it on purpose. It was laying in the middle of the road late one summer night making a horrible noise. When my headlights hit it I could see it’s back end was completely shredded and it was a goner so I ran over it’s head to end it. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/8 "2014-09-17T02:49:02Z")
Killed a deer in South Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/9 "2014-09-17T02:52:44Z")
Too many. I used to deliver papers and so many critters come out at night. In no particular order snakes rabbit birds - lots of birds, I expected them to fly out of the way and they just sat there raccoon cat fox Except for the snakes and the birds all of them would be alive if they had kept going. No sooner would I be sighing in relief at missing them then they’d turn around and run in front of me. I came close to hitting a deer once, so close I could see the fear in her eyes Fortunately most of the deer were so friendly in the area where I delivered you could drive up next to them and talk to them. Since they weren’t afraid they wouldn’t panic and run out in front of cars. Most of them would look both ways before crossing the street. Once a hawk came close to hitting me, he was flying right at my windshield and finally got enough lift to get over me. Another time I was driving across a causeway with the bay on one side and a small harbour on the other, when I saw a fish in front of my windshield… An osprey had just caught it, the fish was huge and the poor bird almost didn’t get out of my way. You could see it was struggling to hold onto the fish and fly at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/10 "2014-09-17T03:03:10Z")
Notably, a dog that as part of a pack came screaming across a rural section of 4-lane highway with a speed of 75 MPH. I wasn’t driving, but the effect viewed from the passenger’s seat was horrible. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/11 "2014-09-17T03:04:52Z")
A dog was the first. A dachshund ran out of the ditch on my right and I didn’t see him but for a flash and my passenger yelling. He didn’t suffer. A bird that was just sitting in the road. I was sure it would fly away but nope. Tiny little _dunk_ _dunk_ sounds as both driver’s side tires went over it. Would have thought it was just a rock in the road if I hadn’t seen it first. Then two opossums at something like 2am. They were crossing the road at a curve. I came around the curve and by the time I saw them in my headlights I couldn’t swerve in time. I braked but drove right over them. Stopped and got out but they were gone. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/12 "2014-09-17T03:17:23Z")
Cat. I was driving down a street in my West Texas hometown when this cat ran in front of my car. It made it to the other side of the street okay but then inexplicably stopped suddenly, did a little twist and ran back into the street before I could stop. I felt the sickening thud under my front left wheel. It was like it committed suicide by throwing itself under my car. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/13 "2014-09-17T03:20:18Z")
Slammed on the brakes and pinged a deer that had run into the middle of the intersection. I was only going maybe 5 mph when I hit it, and it bounded away seemingly unharmed. ---
**Author:** ![Amberlei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Amberlei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amberlei)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/14 "2014-09-17T03:22:04Z")
A peacock and a dog. :(:(☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/15 "2014-09-17T03:26:46Z")
A kangaroo and several possums. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/16 "2014-09-17T04:02:49Z")
I hit a raccoon once as a teenager. It didn’t die instantly but was badly hurt so I ended up having to drive over it again to finish the job. I have hit several birds, an armadillo (its natural habitat is face up beside the road), a squirrel and I ran over a very large rattlesnake once on purpose as it was trying to cross a rural road. I don’t normally hit snakes on purpose but that thing just looked unusually menacing. Thankfully, I have never hit a deer but I have come close before. I had my then two year old daughter in the car coming around a bend on a rural road when one of those dumb shits decided to jump straight in front of me one night. I don’t know if I did the right thing but I swerved abruptly and we missed - just barely. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/17 "2014-09-17T04:04:24Z")
First animal I ever hit was one of the neighbors’ hens. I could feel it under my feet in my old VW Beetle. Since then - two deer, an armadillo that did more damage than either deer (Buick vs. Armadillo \> Deer vs. full-sized GMC truck,) owl, multiple squirrels and 'possums, and one cat. Of them all, only the cat lived - I stopped in the middle of a busy highway at night after hitting her, and a city police officer stopped to see why. He told me to leave, and I assumed that he put her out of her misery afterwards - she was very badly hurt, and I was a nearly-hysterical 19-year-old college student at the time. I later learned that the officer had taken her to the vet, and she became the Athens, Georgia police department pet for a number of years afterwards. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/18 "2014-09-17T04:05:00Z")
A dog, a cat, and, once, a coyote. Hard to tell about the rabbits and squirrels: they’ve run out in front of me, and I may have hit 'em…but also might not have. My dad drove over a rattlesnake once, pretty much deliberately. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/19 "2014-09-17T04:27:56Z")
A little prairie dog. Felt terribly about it after. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703/20 "2014-09-17T04:29:29Z")
1. Raccoon. I swerved to miss him. He managed to run under my rear tire anyway. 2. Possum. On a narrow 2 lane bridge, which i was currently sharing with an 18-wheeler. Tough shit dude. 3. Chihuahua. Little bastard ran straight for my front tire (I was on a motorcycle). No way, Jose. You vs throwing my bike down, you lose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-hit-an-animal-with-your-vehicle/698703.md?page=2)