CAUTION: Deer May Stand Still Until You Hit It

You know the road signs you pass while driving that show an outline of a deer leaping? The pictures actually look, if I may say, rather graceful....almost as if the deer is going to leap over your vehicle and cross safely to the other side of the road. What seems like a more appropriate drawing would be a deer standing on all fours, looking straight at you with glazed-over eyes....indicating that there's a high chance they won't move anywhere when they catch a glimpse of your headlights. As slow as my own reaction times can be, I am certain after last night they can't be any slower than a deer's. "Stupid" would be a strong adjective...but "not very bright" is a fitting euphemism:)

As you can probably imagine, we had a little run-in (literally) with a deer while driving home from Pennsylvania last night. I had laid down to get some sleep when I felt Dennis slam on the brakes and the anti-locks kick in. Then I hear this huge thump on hood of our car, which sent the poor creature limping on not all fours until another car finished it off. I'm sure its fam has figured by now little Bambi won't be coming home afterall. Thankfully, the car was intact enough to drive the remaining six hours, but I have to say my first deer accident was an intense one. So really, my friends, watch out for the deer leaping signs....they're not kidding:) But it's not as it appears...the deer will stare dead on until one of two things happen: 1) you swerve OR 2) you hit it.