The Deer

Burlington, Vermont
44 28.12 N 073 13.28 W

We have all seen the devastating effects of deer-car collisions.  They are especially devastating when the deer goes through the windshield of the car.   Would you believe that we almost had such a collision with Tarwathie yesterday?  How the h* can that be?  Read on.

We were motoring down Otter Creek.   That is one of our favorite passages.  We do it a half dozen times per year.  I've blogged several times before about the charms of Otter Creek.  Most of the banks are wetlands.  Have a look on the Google Earth image below.

Anyhow, yesterday we were passing a place where the road passes right next to the creek.  The road is built on a berm that rises about 8 feet above the water.  The far side of the road is wetland.  See the image below.

On this morning, I was at the helm while Libby was below.  I saw a car on the road coming toward us.  Just as he approached, a whitetail deer climbed up onto the road from the wetland side.  Both the car and the deer were startled.  The car braked hard.  The deer took one galloping leap, landed on the creek side of the road, then took a second leap into the air.  From the 8' elevation that deer flew through the air right in front of my eyes and landed in the creek directly in front of the boat.  I was able to put the motor in reverse and slow down enough so that we didn't hit the deer in the water.   It swam to the far side of the creek, climbed out of the water, than fled for all its worth.

I exaggerate slightly when I say it almost came through our windshield.  In reality, it hit the water about two boat lengths in front of us.  Nevertheless, my brain's registration of that even fixed the deer flying through the sky above me, seemingly very close.