Three Strikes and You're Out? Maybe not.

I have been meaning to write a post about what I learned when I took the AARP driver safety course.  I just haven't gotten around to it.  One of the areas dealt with was crashes with animals and how to deal with them - like don't swerve to avoid one.

This year I have had three close calls with deer.  Frequent readers of this blog will already know how much I detest the creatures.  In the fall, I came close to hitting a deer when taking Charlie to preschool.  Then, a few weeks later, I was on my way to pick him up when a deer ran out in front of my car just down the street from me.  I got out the cell phone and took the picture while I recovered my composure.

My son often sees the deer in the morning and in the evening when he is dropping Charlie off or picking him up.  Yesterday, Charlie and I were on our way home around noon when three deer ran out in front of me in the neighborhood.  I was so shaken I made a wrong turn in the subdivision and had to backtrack to get to the house. 

I do not know how many deer are in my township, but it is not uncommon to see as many as seven at a time.  I have lots of pictures of deer.

When I was taking the test, I Googled some stats on deer crashes.  Seems there are 1.6 million deer crashes each year.  There is over 4 BILLION dollars in damage each year, both physical to autos and medical to those folks involved.  And then there is the loss of life by deer going through car windshields.  I've heard at least two cases of that happening here in Michigan.

And the cost of damage to plants isn't even considered.  I've had entire shrubs eaten to the ground.  I am certainly not looking forward to another year of trying to keep them out of my yard.  We had our chance back in the early nineties when Ted Nugent warned us about the deer that would soon be out of control.  He wanted our Board to allow bow and arrow hunting in the nature preserve to cull the herd.  We laughed and scoffed at the idea.  What a mistake. 

My local garden center sells kits for detecting Lyme disease.  That should tell folks how serious this can become.  I have known two people who contracted the disease and they were both very ill for a long time.  But I guess if I live in a country that will not control guns, I can hardly expect them to control Bambi and her relatives.