On New Year's Eve, we got up before O-dark:30 to take the Littlest One to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital for a T&A--Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy. We were instructed to be there at 6am to prep for the outpatient surgery, so at 5:22am, we headed out.
It is dark out in the FC in the wee hours of the morning, and we scanned the woods and fields for deer as we wound our way along the two-lane roads. Deer-spotting has become a sport for us. It's a competition to be the first one to call out "Deer!" (I have a bit of an advantage, as I am more often the passenger and do not have to be as vigilant about the road ahead. Plus, I am generally better at seeing them.)
This morning, we saw her at the same time. A little doe peeked into beam of the headlights. Just as we gasped to call out "Deer!" she lunged right into my passenger door, and her face was inches from mine. She looked just as surprised as I am sure I did. She crashed against the car door with a sound of crumpling metal, then she was on the road in front of the car, staggering and stumbling in the headlights, then falling to the ground. It was a sickening sight as the little deer appeared to be dying in front of us.
As we processed what just happened and stifled emotion, we went to our cell phones thinking who to call. We were just over the county line, back into Shelby County, and I think in the Arlington city limits. Where you are has everything to do with who will respond to the call. H finally got hold of someone in law enforcement, and for about 20 minutes we sat in the car and watched the little doe lolling helplessly on the road in front of us.
A few cars passed around us as we waited, slowing to see why we were stopped. Each car startled the doe, and she eventually staggered to her feet and struggled back to the side of the road to the edge of the woods. My fear was we would lose her in the woods and she would suffer. At that point I assumed she would need to be euthanized.
Finally a sheriffs car arrived, and shortly after, another. Honestly, it did not seem to me that either of those guys had any more idea what to do for this poor deer than we did. They approached her, and she moved closer to the woods. H said deputy one said to the other: "Be careful, man, I've seen When Animals Attack!" Don't get me wrong, I have every confidence that if I needed law enforcement help, they would do a fine job, they just seemed a little perplexed with how to help the wounded doe.
In the mean time, the little doe seemed to be coming to her senses, getting a little more steady on her legs and moving still closer to the woods. The officers made the executive decision that further intervention was not necessary. Quote: "It has a few holes in it, but it will be OK." As one officer verified H's driver's licence and proof of insurance, the doe made her way loopily back where she came from and disappeared into the darkness. He wrote up an accident report for the insurance claim and we were all on our way.
We were only 30 minutes late for check-in at Le Bonheur, and I had called ahead to let them know about our delay. The experience put a pall on the rest of the day, which was stressful enough. Things have turned out well for our Littlest One, and I hope things have turned out well for the little doe.
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