ForumGarden

Here's the scenario:

On my early school run, by taxi, we have cause to drive through large swathes of deep countryside.

Myself and the Taxi driver would not consider anything on the way as we are escorting a severely brain damaged young man but on the way back, we find this dilemma.

Herds of wild Pheasants and Partridge wander aimlessly up country roads as If they own the place.

My Taxi driver wants to deliberately run them over for his dinner. Yet, some of the country roads are so narrow that you risk driving Into a hedge to avoid them.

Would you ?

They take a lot of avoiding. Theyre not very bright and very indecisive.

Snowfire;1440603 wrote: They take a lot of avoiding. Theyre not very bright and very indecisive. Totally agree with that. Friday morning, one just sat In the middle of the road looking at us through the windscreen In a sort of errrr where do I go now, sort of way.

Most likely I would be the last to know.

Upland Game Bird Seasons

PHEASANT

Regular: November 9, 2013 - January 31, 2014

Youth: November 2-3, 2013

Area Open: Statewide

Last week spent at least 20 hours and miles of walking and nary a pheasant to be found. Saw one quail, but I wasn't on top of my game.

A few years ago a road expansion apparently broke up a turkey habitat and those fools seem to challenge automobiles and all one could really do is slow down, maybe honk.

Yes, wild turkeys can be very aggressive. There are a mess of them in Staten Island of all places!

AnneBoleyn

Yes, wild turkeys can be very aggressive. There are a mess of them in Staten Island of all places!


Read about that craziness.

Dongan Hills resident Barbara Laing said about 60 turkeys call her maple tree home, and her family keeps busy cleaning up after them.

“They live in this tree,” she said. “They sleep in it. And they poop all night.”


There are estimated to be about 80 turkeys in Dongan Hills. In August, 25 birds were moved to an upstate sanctuary. They had been slated to be sent to an slaughterhouse, but animal lovers called for a more humane treatment.


Staten Island Neighborhood Overrun By Turkeys

state officials insist that the turkeys are not indigenous and that in 2000, nine turkeys were deposited on the sprawling grounds of the psychiatric center “by a local resident who had held them in captivity.”


The turkeys have since multiplied and can be seen by the dozens foraging on the center’s broad lawns.

Wild Turkeys Get a Taste of Domesticity, Much to a Borough’s Chagrin

During a trip whilst visiting my daughter in Scotland, I could not believe the amount of pheasant we very nearly mowed down, they seemed to be around every corner just sitting there playing their own game of dare.

No. I've seen a car with a pheasant stuck in the radiator having gone through the grill. New radiators cost more than you think. I was in a car once where the driver chased a rabbit up on to the verge and narrowly missed rolling the car. The silence in the car afterwards was epic - as the driver himself said that wasn't clever was it. It's a really dumb thing to do. How do you feel about hedgehogs they are supposedly good to eat and easier targets?

While at school there was an acquaintance killed after hitting a rabbit, it jammed itself between the wheel and wheel arch locking the wheel long enough for him to lose control and roll over an embankment. Not your typical road accident I will admit but it is true, they know that's what happened as the rabbit was still stuck.

Growing up In The South Downs ( rural ), we had all sorts to contend with Including Deer suddenly appearing In the road.

My Fathers rule of thumb was never deliberately mow down a wild creature but.... never swerve to avoid one either for you could kill someone's children coming the other way. If It didn't move before you hit It, then take It home, pluck It, gut It and eat It.

We ate a lot of Rabbit, Hare, Phesent, Partridge In our house as kids

oscar;1440649 wrote: Growing up In The South Downs ( rural ), we had all sorts to contend with Including Deer suddenly appearing In the road.

My Fathers rule of thumb was never deliberately mow down a wild creature but.... never swerve to avoid one either for you could kill someone's children coming the other way. If It didn't move before you hit It, then take It home, pluck It, gut It and eat It.

We ate a lot of Rabbit, Hare, Phesent, Partridge In our house as kids


I'd agree with you on the not swerving. In the highlands you also have to contend with unfenced roads and sheep in the middle of the road because the tarmac retains the heat they like to lie on it. Creepy at night sometimes - all those gleaming eyes looking at you. If you hit one not only is there the damage to your car you also have to compensate the farmer.

gmc;1440670 wrote: I'd agree with you on the not swerving. In the highlands you also have to contend with unfenced roads and sheep in the middle of the road because the tarmac retains the heat they like to lie on it. Creepy at night sometimes - all those gleaming eyes looking at you. If you hit one not only is there the damage to your car you also have to compensate the farmer. That's a bit out of order... It's the Farmers fault for letting them wander about willy nilly.

My Brother almost lost his life to a Deer. Driving home In the Pitch dark In a low MGB Sports car, It must have spooked and leapt the wall of the deer park... awful... fully grown It went through the windscreen, antlers and all.... and It was still alive by the time the ranger got there to shoot It.

gmc;1440670 wrote: I'd agree with you on the not swerving. In the highlands you also have to contend with unfenced roads and sheep in the middle of the road because the tarmac retains the heat they like to lie on it. Creepy at night sometimes - all those gleaming eyes looking at you. If you hit one not only is there the damage to your car you also have to compensate the farmer.


I remember the sheep in the road from when I lived in the highlands...also the deer who used to visit and eat all the vegetables...frustrating when they snaffled the asparagus as it takes so long to grow

theia;1440683 wrote: I remember the sheep in the road from when I lived in the highlands...also the deer who used to visit and eat all the vegetables...frustrating when they snaffled the asparagus as it takes so long to grow


Nothing worse than having your tips gnawed.

My sister Is buried In The Sussex Downs. Most of the graves have wire around them to stop pesky wildlife nibbling the wreaths and flowers laid on them.

oscar;1440672 wrote: That's a bit out of order... It's the Farmers fault for letting them wander about willy nilly.

My Brother almost lost his life to a Deer. Driving home In the Pitch dark In a low MGB Sports car, It must have spooked and leapt the wall of the deer park... awful... fully grown It went through the windscreen, antlers and all.... and It was still alive by the time the ranger got there to shoot It.


Actually no it's not. If the roads are fenced and sheep or cattle get out then the farmer is liable. If the roads are unfenced and clearly marked as such, if you hit a sheep on such a road it is your liability. Bear that in mind if you are up here.

oscar;1440672 wrote: That's a bit out of order... It's the Farmers fault for letting them wander about willy nilly.


Depends. I don't fully understand 'open range law' in Kansas, but you can be held responsible for nailing errant live stock. I ain't into road kill, but why not?



oscar;1440672 wrote: My Brother almost lost his life to a Deer. Driving home In the Pitch dark In a low MGB Sports car, It must have spooked and leapt the wall of the deer park... awful... fully grown It went through the windscreen, antlers and all.... and It was still alive by the time the ranger got there to shoot It.


Deer here are a PITA, statewide at least 7000 deer vs automobile collisions a year, nobody wins.

My first visit to Kansas included a deer jumping in front of me while driving on an interstate.

Scary it was.

tude dog;1440697 wrote: Depends. I don't fully understand 'open range law' in Kansas, but you can be held responsible for nailing errant live stock. I ain't into road kill, but why not?





Deer here are a PITA, statewide at least 7000 deer vs automobile collisions a year, nobody wins.

My first visit to Kansas included a deer jumping in front of me while driving on an interstate.

Scary it was.


I have dodged my share of deer while driving across Kansas. This Wednesday night, on the way to KC, I was somewhere around Ellsworth, and watched the car in front of me run off the road trying to dodge a big buck that came across in his path. Fortunately, the driver missed any real hazards, and we got him back up on the road an on his way in about 30 minutes.

Worst thing I have seen though, was in Wyoming, some years back, when I was driving a tow truck. A Ford Maverick hit a moose. the moose fell onto the car, and one of its antlers went through the windshield. The moose was still alive, but with broken forelegs, and its antler stuck in the passenger compartment. It thrashed around quite a bit before a Sheriff showed up, and shot it. The driver was not so lucky.

LarsMac;1440712 wrote:

Worst thing I have seen though, was in Wyoming, some years back, when I was driving a tow truck. A Ford Maverick hit a moose. the moose fell onto the car, and one of its antlers went through the windshield. The moose was still alive, but with broken forelegs, and its antler stuck in the passenger compartment. It thrashed around quite a bit before a Sheriff showed up, and shot it. The driver was not so lucky.


That was exactly what happened to my Brother !!! Went through the windscreen and being In an MGB Sports and fairly low to the ground, the antlers speared him to his seat. It was also still alive and thrashing about. By sheer luck, a police car came along some minutes behind him and they called the ranger who shot It. The car and my Brother was a wreck and It frightened him so much, he'd never take the route home around Parham Deer Park ever again.

I actually hit two deer when they ran in front of me on my way pheasant hunting. We were lucky I was in an 84 Ford bronco. Barely put a dent in it and we had venison for about a year. I had them cleaned before the sheriff even got there to give me salvage tags for them. If I had tried to swerve to miss them we could have rolled or hit a electric pole. It seems to happen at least once a year where I live. Someone tries to dodge a deer in the road and end up dead ran into a tree or rolled. I have always told my kids to just hit the brakes and stay straight and hope they get by.

YZGI;1440747 wrote: I actually hit two deer when they ran in front of me on my way pheasant hunting. We were lucky I was in an 84 Ford bronco. Barely put a dent in it and we had venison for about a year. I had them cleaned before the sheriff even got there to give me salvage tags for them. If I had tried to swerve to miss them we could have rolled or hit a electric pole. It seems to happen at least once a year where I live. Someone tries to dodge a deer in the road and end up dead ran into a tree or rolled. I have always told my kids to just hit the brakes and stay straight and hope they get by.


My brother had no chance to swerve. The Deer leapt over the perimeter wall of the Deer Park and landed on his bonnet. It was pich dark as well. He had a heck of a job with the Insurence company who eventually paid out but really gave him a hard time over It.

YZGI;1440747 wrote: I actually hit two deer when they ran in front of me on my way pheasant hunting. We were lucky I was in an 84 Ford bronco. Barely put a dent in it and we had venison for about a year. I had them cleaned before the sheriff even got there to give me salvage tags for them. If I had tried to swerve to miss them we could have rolled or hit a electric pole. It seems to happen at least once a year where I live. Someone tries to dodge a deer in the road and end up dead ran into a tree or rolled. I have always told my kids to just hit the brakes and stay straight and hope they get by.


That's good advice, a deer doesn;t want to hit you any more than you want to hit them, I've had a couple of near misses where braking dodged an impact and swerving would have had me in a tree. Same if you meet a car in the middle of a narrow country, don't swerve to avoid them you have more chance of surviving in a head on collision brake and let them swerve. I've also known people who did swerve smashed up their car on a wall and the other driver didn't stop, at least if you hit them they are not going to get away. I find people going too fast on a single track road know they are in the wrong and will tend to try and get out your way, maybe a bit selfish but if they are causing the problem..