Flashing headlights

OK, so yesterday I was driving to work on my normal little Podunk town, two-lane road when I see an oncoming car flashing their lights. Well, being the city girl that I am I slow down because in the "normal" world we use that to signal that there is a cop and to SLOW THE HELL DOWN!!!


So I slow down....


I learned in a small town that means something TOTALLY different.


THERE WAS A DEER COMING!!!! I HIT IT---DAMN!




Looked a little like this one...

HA, just kidding...I am sure there some one around here has one though.

Really, it looked more like this one.

I know (tear) that is what it felt like. Sorry, I am trying to use humor to comfort myself.

Now REALLY, it did look like this one...

Except that he wasn't that fast.

I hit him....

So I turned around to go check to make sure that he was not suffering as did the man that was flashing his lights at me not even a minute ago. We both come to a stop and he has a disappointed look on his face. So, I said, "I know, I am so sorry." So as I sit there trying to comfort this dying creature by talking to it and saying that I was sorry and shhh it will be OK, the man stops me. He says, "No, don't be sorry. It is really just a part of life." So again, coming from a family of non-hunters I still feel almost sick to my stomach that I did this to this poor baby. All four of this creatures legs were broken and he just sat and couldn't move. I asked the man why if this is a part of life did you look so disappointed when I walked up. His response...."I was a little upset that it wasn't a 5-point. I need another one to hang on my wall."

OK, so living where we have lived now for almost 2 years and knowing that you are a red-neck if you live in a town that advertises car sales by luring you with a "we will also include a Marlin Model 336 deer hunting gun if you buy a car from us" slogan, I knew that this man was disappointed now because I had not hit a bigger dear with antlers.

SOOOOO, after recovering from this comment the man tells me he has a shot gun in the truck but that he knows that he cannot shoot it legally inside city limits (definition of city limits in Valdosta is that there are a few more houses, a few less trees, and more paved roads than dirt roads). So we call the cops. The cop pulls up about 20 minutes later and gets out his rifle from the car and he says you may not want to watch. Right-O I did not want to watch, but I am not hearing impaired so I do hear it. As, I walk away the man in the truck asks, "Would it be OK if I took him home for supper?" The cop says, "Sure, there is no use in letting good deer meat go to waste. If I wasn't in this cop car I would have thrown him in the bed of my own truck."

So, needless to say---life is very different depending on where you live. I had to comfort myself by knowing that I fed a family dinner last night with that deer that took the hit from my SUV. Poor thing.

I was fine, the car surprisingly had no damage that I could see and a family got fed.

So, I hit my first deer.