A cousin operates a Wyoming hot shot
freight service. He wore out one Dodge Dually at 432,000+ miles. He has had his
share of wildlife encounters and shared this.
For those not familiar with the term, hot
shot, a shipper has something that needs to go from point A to point B RIGHT
NOW. Often an operation costing $10s of thousands per hour is stopped for lack
of a vital part. Call a freight forwarder specialist who can get it transported
as fast as possible.
A notorious stretch of highway for wild
animal encounters is Colorado Highway 13 from Rifle, CO through Meeker, Craig,
and on to Baggs, WY. My cousin had an encounter with a elk one night just South
of Baggs.
Back in the day when I was running off
site car sales, we had two car haulers we owned and operated. One night between
Meeker and Rifle our driver hit a deer. The owner and general manager were
making noises about making the driver pay for the damages. Closing the office door, I gave them a short,
unpleasant, lecture. Pointed out he
could have tried to swerve an 80,000 lb truck/trailer combination and rolled it
and the ten cars aboard off the hillside.
They weren’t thrilled having the Tank
tell them what trees made shingles but nothing more was said about charging the
driver.
Over the years I’ve hit three deer and
had many other close calls. I understand in the Southland feral pigs are a big problem.
That is a lot of compact meat on hoof from the few I’ve seen.
Drive safe out there!
14 comments:
My mom hit a horse last month. Totaled their Explorer.
They were lucky they didn't die.
We were heading over to visit them in December and came around a corner and there was a cow right next to the center line. Still don't know how we missed it.
I second it.. be careful out there.
Ami
Glad you mom is ok. 1950's an uncle hit a horse. The whole family ended up in the hospital.
From my experience and 'urban lore' back in Illinois farm country, hitting a pig is bad juju! They're compact enough to get under your car, and tough enough to stay together, many times causing the vehicle to flip or roll.
Had a friend in college who smacked a deer in his '69 Z-28. Really did a number on it, but he was lucky that it flipped over the car, and completely cleared the windshield, not even any scratches on the roof.
Lucky guy! I've sen cars that weren't so luck, and the driver wound up with a deer in the face via the windshield.
drjim
1970's near Salmon, ID encountered a pickup/camper combo wedged against the bank on the passenger side. Driver waved me down from the cab. Seems he had a bear under his floorboard and couldn't get out without getting clawed. Wanted me to shoot the bear.
What I did was take my hi-rise (handyman) jack and raised the front of the truck until the bear was free. The bear promptly vamoosed.
About fifteen years ago my wife was going up the highway at midday and had a moose come out of the ditch running flat out, maybe having been chased by a bear. The passenger side front window post and ripped her (the mooses') leaving it laying on the dash. The body bent all the window posts on that side of the van and left a pile of poop in the back. My wife was un hurt except for a few bits of glass in her face. Van was totaled.
I live in the middle of a massive elk area. I see them every time I leave the house, and sometimes they're hanging out before I leave. They're especially active after dark, and it makes me think about driving the hardball roads at night. I use more illumination for the most part to try and see them off to each side of the road, but caution is always called for.
Only three deer? I believe I'm up to five and the wife has another. Some years ago I was up in Montana when a moose came wandering out onto the road. Only 30 year old reflexes saved the pickup.
LL
Great roads in your area for a motorcycle. Not so great with elk all around.
Jim
Luck, experience and fast reflexes. I'm one of the few who doesn't have the radio/sound system/etc. playing. Concentration and a head on a swivel with a dose of paranoia has served me well.
HW
Wow! Haven't been around moose but they are becoming plentiful in Colorado. We do have the Rocky Mountain Sheep who seem a bit smarter than the deer family. Likewise, Pronghorn are plentiful and occasionally get hit but not on the order of bambi.
My sister and I rented a Ford Fusion for a trip to OKC for an aunt's 100th birthday. I hit a damn raccoon near Fort Morgan that did a number. Later that night in Oklahoma my sister hit a big jack rabbit. No problem, we always buy the rental insurance.
Yeah, you don’t want to hit a pig either...
Yep, you don't want a turkey to fly into your pickup windshield either, just say'n...
Old NFO
Could ruin your evening, I bet.
Brig
Never thought of that. We have a few around here.
Lived in Texas and when I went into the insurance company they had a box of Deer Whistles on the counter. As we had had a rash of trucks and cars hitting deer in the area they were pushing these things. Having just missed a couple of them I bought 2 of them and put them on our vehicles. Never had a problem with hitting anything from then on. Have put them on all my cars and trucks since then and I've seen deer actually turn in the fields and go back when they heard the whistles.
glasslass
I have them on my vehicles with mixed results.
Post a Comment