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Fri 22 May, 2009 01:32 pm
This morning I was driving my car since my truck was in the shop and as I rounded the corner in the cul-de-sac approaching my friend's house I noticed a large pine cone on the road. I maneuvered the car in such a fashion as to run the cone over and listen to the familiar "crunch" of the cone being crushed beneath the tire.
Imagine my surprise to hear nothing but the soft, almost unnoticeable sound of something being squished.
I looked in the rear-view mirror and was shocked and disgusted to see the mother armadillo and the remaining children approach the flattened child and sibling. They stared at the pulverized mass on the road and glanced at my departing car.
I felt bad but my tears were like that of a crocodile.
Have you ever run over one of God's creatures and shown little sign of remorse?
I still feel bad about that incident and am afraid that I am turning into a curmudgeon, one who cares only for himself and scoffs at the misfortunes of others, human and animal, reptile and insect.
Share your stories.
@gustavratzenhofer,
Quote:Have you ever run over one of God's creatures and shown little sign of remorse?
The humongous tarantula on the road between Tulum and Cancun comes to mind.
I have run over my ex-wife, her mother, an armadillo, a skunk and a raccoon.
I almost crashed my damn car once trying to avoid running over a bunny that darted into the street, but missed him. So, no I haven't run over one of God's creatures that I am aware of.
I have, however, stepped and squished a large frog once. As a teen, I was leaving the car after an evening date for some goofy guy or such. And as I took a step I felt a slippery something under my foot - to my disgust and horror I just flatten a large frog and dirty my new attractive footwear. I still feel guilty.
@Linkat,
Frogs are very resilient. There's a chance this one recovered and went on to live a happy and productive life. And, even if it didn't, it's just a frog for crying out loud!
@NickFun,
No he didn't survive' stuff had come all out of him and he was flat as could be and the next day, my brother cheerfully informed me that a frog croaked in our driveway. I felt so bad and guilty - I couldn't tell him that it was me that murdered that innocent creature.
I should have tried this...
You just want the ones we successfully ran over, or the ones we chased, too?
@gustavratzenhofer,
No, I have never run over a critter, praise the noodle!
And if I had, I would have been devastated.
I confess to killing spiders and cockroaches and mosquitoes and silverfish and fleas and ants such, though.
Why, yes, funny you should ask. I was out riding my bike one day and I came across two slugs having intimate relations. There was a trail of slime from both sides of the road and as I veered to avoid the romantic couple, my tires slipped on the slime and I fell to the road, my face hitting both slugs, squishing them flat and leaving a big gob of slime on my left cheek. I was disgusted about the slime but very happy about their death.
@gustavratzenhofer,
I knocked the tail off a squirrel once. He darted under my car before I could even flinch and when I looked in the rear view mirror I saw his tail twitching around in the middle of the road and a squirrel with no tail running for the nearest tree.
I always wondered what how the rest of that tail-less squirrel's life went after that.
@gustavratzenhofer,
Here in New Hampshire during a springtime rain, the roads are sometimes crawling with frogs and salamanders. I try to drive around them, sometimes anticipating their jumping to time it so that they are under the middle of the car instead of under the tires. But there are so many of them, and they are so small that I figure I'm probably killing dozens of them every mile (and so is every other driver out there).
Just the other morning a chipmunk darted under my car and I heard thump thump and he was gone in a second. I remember thinking how suddenly and completely that chipmunk's day had changed. One minute all it wanted to do was eat and mate, sorta like me, the next minute he was gone.
don't remember most of what I run over, but I do remember the ones I run into...
I did not feel sorry for the deer, I was rather angry at them.
(have repaired for friends on car vs. cow, they had no remorse to the cow either)
@Rockhead,
I ran over a wooly bear once and was certain that I had been the cause of Global Warming.
Haven't ever run over a critter (to the best of my knowledge). Touching wood I never do.
Kangaro X 3 I have learned that kangaroos are suicidal and to anticipate they will jumpo in front of your car any chance they get.
Womabt X 1. Have you ever run over a tree stump? Its very similar except the tree stump wont get up and walk away.
Echidna X 1
Cockies, galahs, magpies and other sundry birds.
Rabbits dont count.
I hit a turtle that a guy in front had pulled over to save. I didn’t see it… swerved at the last moment in response to the urging of Mr. Joe that I be careful. The guy in front peered back at me, shook his head slowly, got in his truck and drove away. Mr. Joe said, “I can’t believe you did that.”
I pulled over and cried. I looked for it but couldn’t find it.
“Get in the car," Mr. Joe said.
Not long after he patted my arm.
We now have quite a variety of animals mentioned. Do you have any food preparation tricks to share with us, Gus?
Gus, you read my mind! I was just thinking about Squirrels, and why they don't evolve some kinda car-avoidance technique.
Sure, I've seen Squirrels successfully avoid hawk-attacks with their Serpentine Dashes, but it does NOT work with cars.
Try as I might to avoid hitting them, they seem to dash under my car tires more often than not.
WHY? I mean, wouldn't all the smart-car Squirrels eventually be the only ones left alive?
We ran over a rabbit once, despite trying rather hard to avoid it.
Hubby picked it up in a car-blankie, took it home, and put it in a cardboard box with soft stuff, where it promptly died. He buried it in the yard. Cripes I love that guy!
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