Monday, November 3, 2025

Oh deer!

I headed out to my son's house Thursday morning. I did not get the early start I usually do. It was raining quite hard but was supposed to taper off between about 9. I decided to hold off. The rut has begun. This means that hormone crazed bucks will be chasing does hell bent on getting away. The incidence of car/deer crashes is greatly increased this time of year. The rain was heavy enough that I was afraid decreased visibility would make a bad situation worse. 

So I waited it out.

The rain did not stop exactly, but it was brighter outside. I finally got on the road at 10. I saw 34 road killed deer once I hit the interstate, so I am sure I made the right decision.

I got to my destination about the same time my oldest grand daughter got out off her school bus. 

It was a busy weekend. Trick or treating Friday night. Practice for the Nutcracker Saturday morning. Birthday party Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the oldest started getting feverish on the way home. Before the night was over,  she was sick. The youngest was sneezing.

So it was a weekend spent at home which suited me just fine. Mom and Dad got a date night. The girls and I curled up on the couch and watched a movie that they loved and I had never seen. 

Last night, I kept waking up in the night freezing. I knew there was another blanket in the closet, so I got out of bed and got it. Except, I woke up freezing and went for that blanket over and over and over again. I wasn't dreaming about being cold, but I was dreaming about getting that blanket! By the time I woke up, I was headachey and knew I was coming down with it too. 

I was afraid to waste any time getting back home. Tuesday is Election Day. I can only cast my vote at the local fire station, and I will be there come hell or high fever, so I dosed myself with aspirin and said goodbye.

I am home now. It was an uneventful trip home, although I did see a very damaged sportscar pulled off the road. The passenger side hood was completely smashed  and the windshield was out. The roof was caved in. 

About 50 yards past that was a bloody mess of a deer. He had obviously leaped out in front of that little car, been hit hard, came over the hood, smashed the windshield and went over the roof. My guess is that the driver was flying.

(Did I mention it is the rut? Smart drivers are not flying anywhere.)

Our clocks went back Saturday night. 


I hope everyone reading makes it a point to get out and to vote tomorrow. We don't have a lot of ways to register our displeasure. Not remaining silent. Voting. How we spend (or don't spend) our dollars. We all need to make our voices heard in every way we can.







59 comments:

  1. The Middle aged knight is hilarious!

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  2. Very wise to avoid flying deer. It sounds as if a lot of people aren't as well informed

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    1. I honestly don't understand anyone in Pennsylvania being ignorant about the deer situation.

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  3. That's frightening about the deer. We have crashes here too, usually near the mountain passes. Sorry you got sick but 100% agreed about the importance of voting. We vote by mail in WA, and my ballot has been sent in and counted. There are two important school board races in my town. My fingers are firmly crossed!

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    1. I hate to drive this time of the year, especially in the evening.

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  4. Debby I hope you're feeling better and as a fellow Pennsylvanian who used to take a lot of winding rural roads to get to my parents, your deer reports brought back some scary memories! I feel lucky to still be alive and that is no joke :^(

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    1. I never hit a deer in my life. Then I hit two in six weeks. I really try to avoid evening driving if I can.

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  5. And I thought we had a lot of deer. 😮

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    1. There are not enough hunters to keep the population under control. But for the people that do hunt, it is bonanza. They hand out extra tags.

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  6. We don't have deer like you have deer. How long does the rut last? When we were RVing, hitting a deer or a prong horn or anything was always a concern. Never did, happy about that. Sorry you got sick, and hope you're over it quickly.

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    1. Two things to keep in mind is that I was on the interstate for about 150 miles, so I was only seeing a road killed deer ever 3 mi or so. The rut will be over, generally speaking, about mid December.

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  7. Curious…. Do people ever eat roadkill deer?

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    1. Generally speaking, people don't. It is impossible to judge how long the meat has lain. Blunt force trauma does huge damage to the internal organs. When they rupture, the meat is spoiled. Gravel and glass and dirt contaminate it as well. That being said, we have taken road kills. One was hit in front of our house, and died from a broken neck. We saw it happen. Another was a deer that leapt in front of me. We were able to save the hind quarters.

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    2. Good knowledge, thanks!

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  8. Lots of deer when you get out in the country up here, too, but it sounds like you have even more!
    Loved the song and the jokes. Needed that. I am so sick of DST!!

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  9. Hope you feel better soon. (Consider a COVID or flu test?) Linda in Kansas

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  10. Everything done.. including staying in one piece, thankfully.
    Now look after yourself!! xx

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  11. Hope you are getting better. I am interested in who gets to be mayor of New York. Mamdani is, amongst other things, reputed to be charismatic very much like our new green leader Zac Polanski. Is charm winning the day?

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    1. I am afraid to be hopeful, really. We can only do what we can.

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  12. Deer are a problem here but clearly not to the extent they are to you. There has been some bad politics going here involving deer.

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  13. I hope you are feeling better soon Debby.
    Our local roadkill tends to be hedgehogs rather than deer. Not quite as damaging to the vehicle but pretty devastating for poor Mrs Tiggywinkle.

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    1. Mrs Tiggywinkle! I love Beatrix Potter.

      Also on the menu here for our scavengers is a delectable assortment of porcupine, skunk, groundhogs, possums and raccoons...a veritable charcuterie board for them.🤢

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  14. I hope that you will feel better soon. Glad that we don't have deer leaping about all over the roads here. We do have deer around this area but they are muntjac mainly, so quite small and they usually stay hidden.

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    1. I googled muntjac some time back and was enchanted with their tiny size.

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  15. PS I am in SE England.....Harpenden.

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  16. Not many deer in our area either - I have seen a couple of Roe deer since moving here. That amount of dead deer sounds like carnage . . .

    Sorry you caught the family bug. I am trying to stay bug-free and will wear a mask at the airport/on the plane.

    Love that Middle Aged Knight too!

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    1. Smart move on the mask. I lost five days on my UK adventure from something I picked up on the plane.

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  17. I became more careful on the road the older I got. I saw too many times what could happen.

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  18. We have lots of road signs warning about deer, but rarely see a dead one. They can do such a lot of damage toa vehicle.
    I hope you're feeling better now - grandchildren can be so generous.

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  19. Feel better soon! And thanks for voting today! Xo, Rigmor

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  20. Amazon sells small plastic deer whistles you can attach to your car to keep deer away - cheap enough to maybe give them a try?

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  21. Happy that you came back to vote. I guess donald is very scared as his popularity drops to all time lows. The incompetence is mind blowing. Get feeling better soon. I remember all those deer on the side of the road and was told that the hunters had dragged them out of the bush to pick up later in their trucks. Not true I guess. Gigi

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    1. I don't think he is frightened at all. I think he believes he is invincible.

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  22. I took my ballot to the dropbox last week! We have mail-in in CO, but I always hand carry my ballot!
    Glad you made it there and back but sorry you caught the kiddo's germs!
    Now you're home, so take care of yourself! 🤧

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    1. I voted in person. I did not want it disqualified for any reason.

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  23. Great memes!
    Deer are a problem here too, in rutting season. They really, really can wreck a car and cause bad wrecks. I knew a guy who hit a deer on a motorcycle going WAY too fast. He was lucky to survive that one and was badly injured.
    Take care of yourself and get well!

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  24. No elections here this year except for a town south of here. Big senate race next year in NH. Must keep the seat Democratic.

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    1. It really does seem that democrats are doing well for themselves.

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  25. I love those funnies and the video. The darkness is here for the next 16 weeks. Sigh.
    I would awful hitting a deer, and hitting a moose is life threatening, for the driver and the moose.
    Sucks to get sick but I'm glad you had a good visit with your petri dishes/grandchildren:)

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    1. I saw a moose car picture once. I can't even wrap my head around the size of those things. The only saving grace to them is they seem to move more slowly than deer.

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    2. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=554106291618380

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  26. Get well soon and thanks for voting!
    Your memes made me smile which is always a good thing! :)

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    1. Looks like things are going well for democrats.

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  27. Oh no! So sorry you're coming down with whatever-it-is. Hope you recover quickly! That seems like an astonishing number of roadkill deer to see in that amount of time.

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    1. Seems to be mild compared to the kid version.

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  28. Glad you're home safely. Deer are crazier than normal this time of year!
    I was glad to move the clocks back and wish they'd stay on Standard Time. I'm a morning person. Hope you feel better soon.

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  29. We have deer in South Australia, but only on one farm in the hills area. I have never even seen a live deer. In movies, yes, but not for real.

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    1. From what I read, deer are quite an environmental concern there. They are here as well, but for different reasons. Besides the car-deer thing, we also have another concern:disease, chronic wasting disease and EHD being the ones you hear about the most.

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