Did i just kill bambi??? :(

[kriklah]

midnight - just driving back into halkirk on the top road, just before the level crossing, i hit a dear. there was a car coming towards us so i put on hazards, and turned round at the wee carpark to go back, but the other car had stopped i believe ( we could see the tail lights looked stationary) and we couldnt see a body when we went back up.

so if your the other driver on here, did you pick it up, was it dead, or injured? i feel guilty about it, particulary as im still a learner. can you let me know either way(pm if necessary)

thanks

[Kevin Milkins]

That is my worse nightmare.
I have give it some thought since a deer ran into the road and I missed it.
I do not know how I would cope with giving one of those a clout.
Please may it never happen to me.

[Lord Flasheart]

Someone's having venison for tea soon .. Yum.

[Kevin Milkins]

Someone's having venison for tea soon .. Yum.

But not in prison in Stroma I hope.lol

[sassylass]

Are you okay? Hitting a deer is upsetting to say the least. I still drive like a granny after hitting one on a dark stretch of road several years ago. I never saw what happened to him, although I suspect he was okay because the damage to my car was minimal. My cousin also hit one and though her car was smashed, the deer up and trotted off.

[kriklah]

i was a bit shook up, but ok otherwise. i drove back up to see if it was ok, but couldnt find it so think the other driver must have lifted it,(hoping its just shocked and theyve taken it to the vet) then drove rest of the way home, so dont think it will have put me off night driving. there doesnt seem to be any damage to the car either, though its too dark to tell just now, ill get a better look in the morning.

[wifie]

Hey Kriklah glad you are fine. I have hit a deer - a big one - loads of damage but managed to fix car. Deer was totalled tho. Phoned police cos I believe that is what you are supposed to do. Never think about it whilst driving but my heart leaps when I see deer near the road.

[George Brims]

In my younger more foolish days I was scooting along the Wick-Watten road late one night and almost hit a large black stirk. The thing was jet black all over and standing right across the left lane. Fortunately he was a good 200 yards from the bend I came round, and looked straight at me so his eyes reflected. That was the only clue I had that something was there, otherwise I probably wouldn't be typing this now.

[_Ju_]

And, I was told, always be careful for the companion deer: they lurk around in groups and you see the first bounding out but might not see the second till it's too late.

[highlander]

Hope you ok, it would have been a roe deer, there is a few roaming about, sometimes you can see them up by the golf course.

[olivia]

So nice to hear that you bothered to stop and investigate. A few years ago I was driving at night on quite a busy minor road in Perthshire when I rounded a bend to see a full grown red deer badly injured to the back end literally dragging herself off the road into a gateway. I pulled up and went back to investigate to find the poor thing laying in the track obviously severly injured. To cut a very long story short it took me the next two hours to find someone suitable (gamekeeper on the local estate) to come with me and shoot the poor thing and put it out of its misery. I shall never forget that night, but at least I know that we put an end to its suffering. Shame on the driver who must have known he/she had hit it and never stopped!

[tisme]

I recon if you are ok, and there is no damage to the car then the deer probably got up and ran away.

[Torvaig]

So nice to hear that you bothered to stop and investigate. A few years ago I was driving at night on quite a busy minor road in Perthshire when I rounded a bend to see a full grown red deer badly injured to the back end literally dragging herself off the road into a gateway. I pulled up and went back to investigate to find the poor thing laying in the track obviously severly injured. To cut a very long story short it took me the next two hours to find someone suitable (gamekeeper on the local estate) to come with me and shoot the poor thing and put it out of its misery. I shall never forget that night, but at least I know that we put an end to its suffering. Shame on the driver who must have known he/she had hit it and never stopped!

It's a horrible experience isn't it? Shame to see an animal suffer. I think in those circumstances phoning the police would be the right thing to do as I'm sure they would have easier access to people (vet's, farmers, gamekeepers etc) who could put the animal out of its misery. Good for you for doing what the driver involved should have done.

[sprint95m]

Roe deer are very numerous and cars are becoming ever more quiet (almost silent) I suspect the probability of accidents is increased enormously.
There is a big advantage to the old fashioned noisy exhaust systems.......?

[George Brims]

Actually that reminds me. Here in the States they sell a thing in all the car parts stores that you put on the front bumper. It's a high-pitched whistle that alerts the deer to an oncoming car. Like dog whistles, it's high enough in pitch that most people can't hear it, but the deer can. Now that Caithness has so many more trees (I still react in surprise at seeing truckloads of logs going *South*!) roe deer are going to be a continuing problem, so maybe everyone should get one of those gadgets.

Uh-oh! Maybe not...

http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/021118/02111812.htm

[unicorn]

You can buy them here also, we got one after hitting a red stag and writing off our jeep last year, bit too late though :roll:

[Looby2K7]

how long did u wait before going back:confused

[kriklah]

wasnt long, couple of minutes. had hit it just above the level crossing, carried on down to the wee parking area beside the graveyard, stopped for a moment to calm down while my bro-in-law who was with me checked the front of the car for damage, then went back up. the car wed passed had stopped, but was gone by the time we got back up there, and we couldnt see the deer anywhere. i phone thurso police station when we got home, but they said i didnt need to report it if there was no damage to other property or vehicles. ive been informed by someone that it was there at about 12.30 (think it was about 12.10 when it happend) and that it was badly injured, and they also called police who would send someone out to investigate. i called them again this morning but they couldnt find details about it,(it may have been on their other system that was switched off) they would have called sspca or vets to deal with it, so i called sspca, who will get back to me as the man i spoke to hadnt heard about it yet either.

[sassylass]

And, I was told, always be careful for the companion deer: they lurk around in groups and you see the first bounding out but might not see the second till it's too late.

You're right, I hit the companion deer. Saw the first deer, put on the brakes but too late to miss the second.