....because they shouldn't be on the freakin' road!
Jason & I had a wee altercation with a deer late Sunday night on our way home from a visit to the family. Stupid deer. But it was totally miraculous, from all signs. I was asleep when it happened--in that horrible half-asleep place when you can still hear everything that's going on, but it all gets magnified by your brain because your peepers aren't open.
Here's all I remember: turning onto the 7/8 after we passed the Wagler's farm. Then doze doze doze for me. Suddenly Jason says "Deer!" and then there's a big thump, I scream and open my eyes. I might have at this point seen a blur of grey, but my mind might be filling in the memory gap. I finally stop screaming, Jason says "I just hit a deer! I hit a deer!" and I say, "Pull over, stop the car. I know, just pull over." I thought we were goners when I heard the thump. I've always heard that you're better off rolling in the ditch than hitting a deer, and we have a wee car.
Jason says it was a huge (likely) buck. He was in the right lane (our lane!), facing the left, and just as Jason saw him he turned around and was about to go off the road. There was no time to react and we caught the buck in the hind quarters with the right corner of our car. Jason says he spun off to the right off the road, after smacking a bit along my side of the car.
So we pull over, and Jason takes a look at the front which isn't pretty and has some lovely flesh and fur attatched. He opens the door to tell me, and the stench hits me in a wave that almost makes me vomit. There was nothing of the scent of cooking steaks here, it was all putrescense.
We called the po-pos, as I assume you do (you have to call the forestry service in Alberta where all my experience with wildlife on the road stems). Thank God! I brought my cell phone that day and it was charged and we got reception. While waiting for the officer to come, Jason and I sat in our cold car, praying and processing what happened, and mostly asking God to make everything turn out the way it should. The officer who came was great, and the first woman officer I've interacted with, I think. We were both really calm by the time she got there, which is good. Jason gave his statement, and she made sure our car was drivable and sent us on our way. She was going back to look for the deer after we left, so I don't know if she found him or if he's off recovering. Jason says he's probably alive unless we broke his leg. He was that sizeable!
That's the majority of our adventure. We decided to go with insurance on the advice of a guy from Starbucks, and our agent told us this doesn't affect our premiums and is comprehensive. Hooray! And the deductible is less than we anticipated, again YAY! because it will cost about 1500 to fix her up--replacing the hood & front quarter panel & all the lights on the right side & fixing the bumper & whatever else we didn't notice immediately. We also get a rental car until Ji-Huen is back on the road, which is an answer to prayer because Jason has to open the store and I have to get to my chiropractor and the class I'm in at church and small group and maybe even the gym.
Someone told me yesterday that hunting season on deer just opened, for which I'm honestly grateful. I don't know what they're doing so close to the city, but there are really no natural predetors for them around here. Nature's a bit out of balance when it comes to deer. The woman at the rental place told me I was one of many who came in Monday who had a car in the shop because of deer on the road. So if you're a hunter, think Waterloo Region, okay? Just west of the Trussler exit there's a big buck who's waiting for you.
