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One less doe on the road

Dear Editor:

To the reckless driver who hit the doe last week and left her stunned but alive in the middle of Highway 82: Let me describe the scene after you caused your collateral damage and fled the scene.

My first thought was, “Oh my gosh, a dead deer dead in the middle of the road,” then I realized she was stunned and sitting upright in the road unknow­ingly awaiting the next hurtling mass of steel. Dripping blood and spittle from her mouth, she gamely attempted to gather her strength and her wits. After all, you had just busted off your side view mirror and part of your bumper on her graceful body at 70 mph. A con­cerned motorist ran up the highway screaming, “Is she gonna be OK?” This shocked the doe into trying to run off the highway.



I breathed only a short-lived sigh of relief as I saw her right rear leg was flopping uselessly shattered. She stag­gered on three legs to the ditch, collaps­ing in a spasmodic jerk. A good Samari­tan offered to put her our of her misery, but only had a scalpel, with which she could “slit her throat.” What a nightmare you created. She somehow flopped over a fence into the pasture. When the deputy arrived in response to my 911 call, I walked him over to where she lay awaiting her fate. As he raised his riot gun to put her out of her misery, she gathered her strength and ran on three legs 50 yards across the pasture before again collapsing. Totally sick to my stomach and realizing I could be of no help, I left the saddened deputy to his thankless task.

As I drove on to my office, I won­dered if she had a fawn that would now die. I reflected on the fact that I counted 78 dead deer and elk this winter just between Carbondale and Basalt. I thought of the many others who were slammed by a predator they don’t recog­nize but made it to the ditch to die a slow, agonizing and painful death. Then my thoughts returned to you. What the hell were you doing that you couldn’t avoid a deer crossing the highway in broad daylight? There was no darkness, no vegetation; all you had to be doing was going the speed limit and watching the road. Why didn’t you stop and signal traffic and try to get her out of the high­way?




As I mentioned, I have your side view mirror and part of your bumper give me a call at 927-5101, and I will give it to you so you can hang it on the wall with some of your other trophies.

Frosty Merriott

Carbondale