I keep hitting animals

ENMeyer

Well-known member
Just bad luck, I suppose. I hit a big deer back in May, and now a big, fat owl. The thing flew right in front of us while in remote WY last week. Grill didn't fare so well. Radiator, etc. is fine, despite this being a very large bird. Anyone know a good place to buy a new grill?

carhagerty - 1 (2).jpeg
 

220629

Well-known member
Ugh. It's not fun.

We hit what I'm quite certain was an owl traveling at night I79 through West Virginia. Very suddenly what looked like a basketball came out of nowhere and smacked the front of our B series Dodge van. I had no idea what it was until we stopped for fuel and there was a mouse stuck in our grill hanging down trapped by its head. At that point I figured we must have hit an owl. The "basketball" I saw must have been the owl trying to maneuver away from the danger. I hate hurting other things, but it happens.

vic
 

glasseye

Well-known member
The thing flew right in front of us while in remote WY last week. Grill
I have deer whistles on my motorcycles. May be worth while to put one or two on your van
Must be something about Wyoming. I hit a large bird on my motorcycle somewhere out there on the high lonesome. Hit me right in the chest and knocked the wind right out of me. Neither of us ever saw the other, not even after I regained my composure and went looking for it.
 
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zcashio

@steadystreamincashios
Ah yikes, not fun for sure. I’m sure on the classifieds you can find a grille or eBay. Somebody’s always changing or unfortunately there’s always a wreck and some vehicles get parted out. Good luck finding one.
Side story, my dad about 10 years ago was riding his HD fat boy on the night of an eclipse. As he rounded a very dark, unlit curve an owl came right for his face. Claws tore his upper lip and he crashed the bike! Luckily just a few broken ribs, cracked teeth, broken collarbone... totaled bike though. Guess the owl came for the light on the bike!
 

ENMeyer

Well-known member
Dennis - I can give you GPS coordinates where the body lies. Just a short 12 hour round trip from Golden! I'll provide the whiskey if you make that Hoot Owl Pie!
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
I hit small birds at dusk all the time. Ive decided its the gray blue color of my van that the birds have a hard time seeing in flat light. One trip across Nevada I drove for 20 minutes with my hand on the horn because the birds picking insects off the asphalt couldnt seem to see me coming. Killed a dozen before resorting to the horn. One made its way into my air box and another the hood grill on the drivers side of the van (dont even ask me how, and luckily the air moving through eventually evacuated it)
 

ENMeyer

Well-known member
ORHamster - that reminds me.... not only did I hit a deer and an owl, but at least 4 other small birds that end up jammed between the slats of the grill. Kinda gross, and I do feel bad.
 

Kajtek1

2015 3500 X long limo RV
I think there is a loop of events where you drive.
When deer is getting killed on the road - that leaves scraps of meat on the surface.
Birds are feeding on it and get killed by other vehicles.
 

220629

Well-known member
I think there is a loop of events where you drive.
When deer is getting killed on the road - that leaves scraps of meat on the surface.
Birds are feeding on it and get killed by other vehicles.
One of the more sad things for dead animals I've seen was also on I79 (same as the owl), but in PA. There was a dead adult racoon on the shoulder. Downstream just a bit were 4 little ones. I figure the mother got killed and then the young ones hung around only to get hit sometime later.

I don't allow people to throw apple cores or other seemingly innocent food things out the vehicle window. As Kajtek1 points out, it attracts wildlife to the area of the highways.

vic
 
Back in the early nineties Joe arrived for work quite upset. Seems he witnessed from afar, during his approach to the incident, the mowing down and mutilation of a fellow human on the Wayne Junction overpass of the Roosevelt Boulevard extension. A place of 4 lanes with narrow passage for pedestrian or vehicles high above the tracks, walled in with high hurricane fencing. Many vehicles left their tracks on the carcass and never stopped. Be wary drivers, of large animals that have wandered within the boundaries of high Guard-rails.
 

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