[thechat] RIP Cooper.

[Erika Meyer]

and slow the f down!

I can't tell you how many times I've driven along windy country roads
in the dark with people going so damn fast there is no way they could
stop if something were standing in the road around the next curve.
And how many times I've stopped or swerved to avoid deer, raccoons,
elk, cats, dogs, foxes, possums... and how many times I've seen the
same dead along the road.

I hit a douglas quirrel once and killed it.  I was in a hurry to get
to school.  I watched it die and heard its mate shrieking in the
brush  nearby.  It was such a beautiful animal; I felt terrible.

I think I hit a cat once, in a hurry to get to work. I barely saw it
happen, drove back but didn't see the animal which was dark & it was
night, one reason I didn't see it at first.  It ran into the street,
saw me, and froze.

In both cases I was going only about 30-35 mph, but should have been
doing 20-25 on the sorts of streets I was on... plus I was
preoccupied & not aware.

A lot of people don't really give a crap if they hit & kill
animals...that is the unfortunate thing.

For me, it is devastating.

A frightened cat will often freeze.  The freezing is an instinctual
move, but it doesn't work well when the enemy is automotive.

Erika


>Please look after your animals, and tell anyone else with a pet to do the
>same... :(
>
>isaac
>


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