I have hit only one dog. It was a large, black lab looking one who left me no choice. I was driving one of those GM dust buster vans and it chased another critter right in front of me. I was going over 50 mph, and we heard it thump the underside of the van at least three times as we went over it. Poor, stupid doggy. This was on a limited access highway in Tallahassee in fairly heavy traffic.
Cats are a different story. I have lost count of how many cats I’ve flattened. A few squirrels, an opossum, a raccoon, a chicken, and a few frogs and toads finish my list.
I thought I was gonna be the first one to claim an owl. Nope, right there in post #2.
One cat and one dog, too; and I think the dog survived. Felt something hit my bicycle a glancing blow the other day; assumed it to be an ill-timed squirrel. I guess on the whole I’ve been lucky.
A bird or two, so I’ve been lucky. I ran over a snake once in Massachusetts. It must have been getting warmth from the pavement. Hell, I didn’t even know they had snakes there. Didn’t see it until I hit it, then looked in the mirror and saw it shoot up in the air like it came out of a gun. Weird.
Hit another raccoon this AM. I hate doing that, but I am not going to do a high speed swerve and endanger others or myself.
Hit a deer last fall, that was messy. Ugh.
Rabbits, TNTC (too numerous to count).
Tons of birds seem to like to fly into my windshield or grill, including a hawk a few years ago. Also hit those damn pheasants who think they own the road.
Hit a cat, too. That was sad. But there are so many feral cats in the areas I drive thru that it eventually happens. No collar, no nothing. I did make sure he was dead before leaving.
I have barely missed turtles, sandhill cranes, foxes, horses, cattle, dogs, coyotes, and once during a flood, a fish.
I’ve hit bunnies twice. I’m very careful, as I live in the country. I drive relatively slowly and towards the middle of the road (no traffic). I stop for animals frequently, and move turtles off the road if there’s a place to stop safely.
A suicidal squirrel, about six months ago. When we drove by it again a few hours later a turkey vulture was going at it, so I came to a stop…the carload of kids I was ferrying talked about my apparent bloodthirstiness for a week.
A stag rammed me once during rutting season, but he got up and staggered away.
A deer ran into my driver’s side door on a rural road, putting a pretty good dent in it. I saw it out of the corner of my eye a split second before it hit, but there was nothing I could do. It fell down in the road, but within a second or two it picked itself up and ran into the woods, somewhat dazed but without any obvious injuries.
One apparently-deluded-about-the-superpowers-conferred-by-a-scent-gland skunk in 1978, while delivering the LA Times. One apparently-suicidal seagull in July 1982, while driving from Idaho Falls to Reno.
About 15 years ago or so, I was driving on an Iowa state highway about 1am. Me in the left lane, state cop in the right lane about 50 yards in front of me. The biggest raccoon I have ever seen in my life flashed between us and I swerved violently to avoid it.
“Please dear god, let that cop have seen that raccoon…”
And apparently he did, because he didn’t pull me over.
I’ve hit squirrels, bats (his wing got caught on my antenna), and one time a buzzard. There were several buzzards on a road with forest on either side. I was driving ~55MPH around a curve and came upon them. They all took off but between their wingspans and the trees there wasn’t enough room for all of them to go sideways. So one came towards me, I slammed on the brakes but he hadn’t gotten enough height to avoid me. I thought he was coming through the windshield but he hit it BAM and also broke my wiper off the arm. And it was raining of course. I stopped and used a glasses cord to tie the wiper back onto the arm best I could. I don’t remember what happened to the bird.
I’ve hit a couple of birds, and they didn’t make it.
I hit a panther in Florida in 1994, driving back to Fort Myers from The Everglades. I was driving my Dad’s boat of a car, and the cat just zoomed out in front of me - I had no chance of avoiding it. I’m pretty sure I hit it with the bottom of the front bumper, and that it just rolled underneath the car and back out under the rear bumper. After stopping for a few minutes to regain my composure, I went back to look for it and see how it was, but it was nowhere in sight. I sure hope it made out OK. Still feel very bad about that one.
My husband is in charge of teaching kids to drive, because I’m a terrible, terrible passenger. Other than the obvious, his biggest rule for the kids: DO. NOT. SWERVE. for an animal smaller than a deer. Yes, hitting a poor little defenseless animal is terrible, but not as terrible as the wreck when you’ve hit another car or ditch or tree at high speed because you tried to save a squirrel’s life.
I was driving out in the country when I was 18 or 19 when I hit some pig that wandered right out in front of me. I kind of freaked out about it a little bit and took off right away. I wasn’t very close to a farm or anything so I didn’t know whose pig I hit, plus it’s not like they were dog tags or anything. I just myself home and was got myself just about calmed down when a police came up to question me about it.
For the first time, just this past weekend. It was a small animal, I think a rabbit, but I was on the highway and going about 65 MPH, and hitting the little guy had a lot more impact than I would have expected (enough to damage the car), and it was pretty scary.