Lisa Adams, click
here to update your pages on AuthorsDen.
Blogs by Lisa Adams
Morning trauma 5/14/2008 1:47:22 PM
Man, this morning, I was completely traumatized...for real. As anyone who lives in the country knows, it is not uncommon to see deer or other animals dead either in, or on the side of, the road. Well, this morning, I experienced something so awful, it really will stick with me for a while, and not in a good way.
I spotted a deer in the distance on the shoulder of the road, but something just didn't look right about the way it was lying there. I mean most deer that have been hit - not to be too graphic - are sprawled on their side. Well this little baby appeared to be curled up, much like you see calves and fawns sitting in the grass. As I came closer, it lifted it's head. Shait - I slammed on the brakes because I realized some damned person HIT this little doe and LEFT HER THERE to die in horrible misery.
Now realize that the forest service office was, like, a thousand yards away and "downtown" Chadron less than five minutes away. ONE phone call to 911 and a sheriff or game warden would come and shoot the poor thing to put it out of its misery. But NO. The person just left it there to suffer.
So I called. Luckily, two forest service guys were in a truck behind me - and that's when things became gruesome and horrible. I could not tell what had happened to this little baby, other than deer normally don't hang out on the shoulders of highways. Well, she jumped up, if you could call it that, and I realized what was wrong: both her back legs had been severed at the knee joint - clean, no break, just severed. And she ran across the highway like that. Jesus Christ it freaked me out so bad I dropped the phone and took off after her along with the forest service guys. All we wanted was for her to stop moving. It was awful, obscene....and goddamn the son of a bitch who left her broken like that and alive to feel that pain.
If ever there was an argument to carry a gun or hunting knife, that was it. Well I was assured help was on the way for her, but just to be sure, I went to the vet - ONLY 50 YARDS AWAY - and asked if he could just go give her a shot to put her to sleep - he couldn't without - ready - a HUNTING license. I was simply beside myself.
I had Mel call the county sheriff direct and I really hope that beautiful doe did not suffer much longer. But, of course, I was completely traumatized because she was a living creature who did not deserve that. Sure, deer AND antelope really do freakin' stop, turn and JUMP into vehicles - happens all the time. Some do come out of nowhere and you really can't see them very well at dusk or dawn....but MOST PEOPLE STOP and try to get help. The vet said, "Ah, the person probably didn't even stop." And I was sickened.
I know tonight I will see those big, brown eyes looking at me, her big, soft ears moving toward me to hear better, and that beautiful face that showed so much pain....ach, hell, now I am going to cry again. And she never made a sound - not once. Darn it all anyway. Sometimes I wish I could just drift through life and not give a damn, but I do. Helping her would have been both human and humane, and I wish to all heck the person who hit her had STOPPED to help.
Sigh...well, I wish I had something glib to say, but that whole scene just really took it out of me today. All I would say is if you hit an animal - doesn't matter what kind of animal - make sure it is dead and if it is NOT - call 911 so the authorities can put it out of its misery.
