I got my car out for the first time in a week and a half. I've got about 1100 miles on the odometer, so I have been still taking it easy. As I'm cruising out of the neighborhood, I look up, and I take out a sparrow from a 30 mph roll.

There was no ricer flyby afterwards.

(No damage I could see, silly bird was seemingly trying to land in the road as I drove up)

 

cruel

 

It wasn't intentional. In fact, I wasn't sure it was even hit at first, I thought I might have missed it. Then I saw the feathers flying and the bird corpse.

 

That is a bummer... My 2nd 300ZX ('94) was used and had about 18K miles on it. It was the non-turbo sapphire blue. Some doctor had owned it, but was starting a family so traded it. I was washing it the first time and looked deep into the air dam. There was some junk up under there I wanted to clean out. I just reached up in there, grabbed what I could and pulled out my hand. I looked and saw that I had half a bird's skeleton in my palm. It had been there so long all the meat was gone and it looked pretty crusty. I just cleaned the rest of it out.

I took one out while riding a motorcyle. I was wearing a full face Shoei helmet and only going about 30. I had no idea what hit me until I looked back and saw the feathers and the corpse rolling in the road.

I felt sorry because it was probably more like I hit him.

 

I hit a dove one time that I scared off a road sign. When I got close, it flew, with a slight drop before it regained its height. It flew right into my windshield.

I'd never seen anything like it, but it left a perfect oily imprint of its body and wings on the glass. You could almost see individual feathers.

 

I was going down the highway tonight, and see something... bloody in the road, already been hit, about the size of a fox, or possibly a dog. well, I dont swerve for things in the road, its 99% of the time safer to hit them. well I figured Id just pass over this...

nope I head a solid, thunk, as I went over it. no damage, but I assume my bumper or tranny whacked it pretty good.

 

Reminds me of this time I was driving my Max in the summer. I was on a side-street coming up to a flock of pidgeons eating something or other.

So I'm thinking to myself "They'll fly away" and sure enough as I got closer most of them did, except for one who was too engrossed in what he was eating. By the time I realized he wasn't going to move, it was too late to hit the breaks.

I remember him looking up at the last second before he went under the car. I think he tried to fly because I heard a thunk. Felt awful. I kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode where George kills the pidgeon. "We had a deal!!!"

 

This past summer, I was on a motorycle ride with some friends of mine. We were riding thru a residential area. A crazy squirrel decided to run out in the street. It ran into the front wheel of the guy in front of me. The spokes of the wheel kicked the squirrel about 6 foot into the air! The damn squirrel was summersaulting spread eagle thru the air!! It landed on its feet and continue to run across the street!

WOW!!! Acrobatic squirrel. Reminded me of the car insurance commercial with the 2 squirrels.

Impostor

 

What a particularly gruesome thread we have going... not one to go out of my way to hit critters, but the bizarrest thing I've experienced...

I was once riding with my mom when she ran over a bird. Not hit... and not a wounded bird. This one flew low across the road and you could hear the sound of the wheel rolling over it.

Sure enough... as I looked out the back window there was a flat bird on the road...

 

Another squirrel story, although a little more gruesome than Imposter's story. Following behind a 4Runner in my neighborhood, this nutty (pun intended) squirrel shoots out of the grass right under the right rear tire of the 4Runner. The wheels spin flings the squirrel up into the air and onto the hood of my 3000GT Poor squirrel...although it was a good thing my car is a bright red.

 

My friend and I in college, in his Ford Escort (haha), were in the Oakland hills in th middle of the night. We rounded a curve, and a skunk was just standing there in the middle of our lane. He freaked, said, Oh my God, what should I do?? I freaked too, having never hit anything before. I said, Uh, straddle it!

We hit it, and the car smelled like skunk for at least 2 months after that. Somehow I got blamed for telling him to straddle it instead of telling him to swerve.

 

Yeah squirrels are so damn stupid. I was riding my bicycle when this animal went into my front spokes, killed that poor thing. Had to clean the blood off the wheels.

 

You should generally avoid the swerving instint if there isn't a lot of room around you, or you are in a curve, etc.

I've known quite a few people ditch a car, and even hurt themselves trying to avoid small animals.

Definitely go around if you have room, but make sure you can first. Your life is worth more.