Ran over a skunk on my way to work

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D1gger

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
5,411
2
76
Even cats?

I hate cats, but I would feel bad if I hit one, only because it is a pet. If I knew for certain it was a feral feline, I wouldn't feel bad if it ran in front of me. I still wouldn't go out of my way to hit one.
 

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,973
6,336
136
I hate cats, but I would feel bad if I hit one, only because it is a pet. If I knew for certain it was a feral feline, I wouldn't feel bad if it ran in front of me. I still wouldn't go out of my way to hit one.
Just messing with you. I knew cats weren't high on your list.
 

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,574
7,672
136
In high school I was waiting at the bus stop when squirrel darted out across the road and got run over by a car its rear was completely flattened to the road but it was still alive! Its little arms were flailing while it gasped for breath, In shock ran to it trying to stop traffic foolishly thinking I could save its life. Just as a got near it a van whizzed by and crushed the upper half part of it totally flattening the remainder of the poor squirrel. I cursed and yelled at the van as it drive ran down the road and i ran a bit after it shouting obscenities. Meanwhile the bus came by and picked everyone up and I had to walk to school.
 

Bacstar

Golden Member
Nov 2, 2006
1,273
30
91
Up here in Anchorage and Alaska in general, gotta watch out for moose on the roadways. They're just tall enough where hitting them head-on will have the moose crashing through your windshield. When I first moved up here, I was warned to do everything possible to avoid a collision if you see it in time. Sucks even more in the winter, their eyes don't glow in your headlights so they're almost impossible to see in the dark.
 

SlickSnake

Diamond Member
May 29, 2007
5,235
2
0
It was around 3:50 AM, so it was totally dark. Traveling kinda fast down a road that has no lighting. by the time I saw the little critter it was too late. I know they are considered a nuisance, but I still feel kinda bad for the poor thing. Hopefully its death was quick and painless. :(

I dunno, maybe I'm just nuts.

Unless you're on a motorcycle, I don't see the problem. One less case of possible rabies snuffed out for good.

Although, I heard skunks make good pets, much like a cat, and they seem to get along with outdoor cats ok, too. But I wouldn't want to descent one and try one out as a pet.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,756
600
126
In high school I was waiting at the bus stop when squirrel darted out across the road and got run over by a car its rear was completely flattened to the road but it was still alive! Its little arms were flailing while it gasped for breath, In shock ran to it trying to stop traffic foolishly thinking I could save its life. Just as a got near it a van whizzed by and crushed the upper half part of it totally flattening the remainder of the poor squirrel. I cursed and yelled at the van as it drive ran down the road and i ran a bit after it shouting obscenities. Meanwhile the bus came by and picked everyone up and I had to walk to school.

Ugh. My parents own a home business that is a little like a farm. People used to dump cats off there all the time in the same way they do with farms. Some one dumps off this long haired tiger cat when I'm like 10 or so and the thing is living outside but its super friendly. The cat was maybe 6 to 9 months old. You know the story, the kitten got big and less cute so the people who owned it were like "The hell with this" and dumped it off by our house. Kittens get adopted super fast at animal shelters so this is an extra huge douche bag move IMO.

Anyway, we had kind of tried to get it to leave for a couple weeks and ignored but it would always come down by the bus stop while we were waiting. The cat is in the road like an idiot and a car is coming up the hill and the bus is coming to a stop the other way. The cat freaks out and chooses to go the direction of the car which of course was a mistake since the bus is slower and coming to a stop. So I get to see this poor cat run over before I go to school that day. I think it was killed almost instantly but I still remember it doing the death shiver on the ground. The crappiest part was I think my mom was resigned to just adopting it at that point anyway.

We had a ton of half feral cats living in our woodpile due to this dump off shenanigans for awhile until my parents rounded them up and got them all fixed. This one was different though since it seemed obvious it was some ones pet they got sick off and didn't really know how to fend for itself.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,756
600
126
Up here in Anchorage and Alaska in general, gotta watch out for moose on the roadways. They're just tall enough where hitting them head-on will have the moose crashing through your windshield. When I first moved up here, I was warned to do everything possible to avoid a collision if you see it in time. Sucks even more in the winter, their eyes don't glow in your headlights so they're almost impossible to see in the dark.

Yeah, we have the same thing with moose down around here as well. The car cuts the legs out from under them and you have a thousand pound moose collapsing the entire roof in on the passengers. Cars aren't designed with that kind of collision in mind so they result in fatalities pretty often. I think you're better off going off the road and hitting a tree than hitting the moose.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,154
13,566
126
www.anyf.ca
That sucks. I almost ran over a squirrel once, just darted out of nowhere. I wish they would not do that. :( There's not many of them to begin with, I'd hate to kill one.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
I took an off-ramp at night and saw something at the last minute that looked like fur blowing in the wind. It was dead center so it was impossible to swerve and completely miss it so I drove over it hoping there'd be no contact but felt a thud mid-way. Apparently it was a cat or something that had just gotten hit by another car and it was struggling. I guess I put it out of its misery but I felt really bad afterward. I was in my wife's sedan, otherwise I would've cleared it with my SUV instead. But it would've been in pain until someone else came along and hit it. Damn cat owners.