WRX 1 Squirrel 0 :(

[EMarkDDS]

Originally posted by lambosv21
lol these stories are great, keep em coming

Well, since this has turned into the resident road-kill thread, here goes.

Driving on I-35, just south of Des Moines, about a year, year and a half ago. I'm in my Honda Prelude (I've since upgraded to an S2000 and upgraded again to '03 WRX). I'm trailing behind a Subaru Outback, about 3 or 4 car lengths.

I see some motion off to my right. It's a pheasant, gliding gracefully from the cornfield next to the highway. Tail feathers, LONG tail feathers, streaming beautifully behind it. It's not flapping its wings or anything; just out for a Sunday Afternoon glide. A nice, slow, relaxing glide.

Apparently, the pheasant was so enthralled in the moment, it failed to notice the highway. Or the Subaru Outback coming at it at around 80 mph. The pheasant disappears from view, going in front of the Subaru. Apparently the Subaru owner was out for a nice Sunday Afternoon drive, because he didn't brake, swerve, or show any indication that he was about to vaporize this bird.

Literally, I am not making this up, feathers EXPLODE from both sides of the car. it's like a fine mist of pheasant parts mixed with lots and lots of feathers, a cloud my car is now passing through. And now the most horrible part...what's left of it comes ROLLING over the roof of the car. I can't imagine the bloody trail it left going up the guy's windshield. It hits the pavement and I, who am also out for a nice leisurely Sunday drive, am so shocked over what I just saw, I don't brake or swerve or do anything. I feel that sickening BA-BUMP as I crush to smithereens what is left of the pheasant.

For about 20 minutes afterwards, I couldn't stop laughing. I just about pissed myself from the effort.

[silverscooby]

Well, its 12:30 here and I'm bored so I'll chime in with my own story.


I was 17 and was out enjoying a cruise in my del sol , just kind of minding my own business on the way to play some basketball after school. For most of the ride I was following one of those big conversion vans, ya know, the ones with the howling wolves painted on the sides? Anyhow, approaching the park where we were playing at the road is lined with rows of oak trees on either side. Needless to say, there are always little squirrels running around that stretch of road getting hit. This day was no different. I spot a squirrel make a dash into the road right in front of this van I'm following but I dont see him come out the other side. What do I see? That fricking squirrel came shooting out the back driver's side wheel and strait up into the air a good 15 feet!

Anyhow, I just missed having this dead squirrel land in my car (had the targa top off.)

[WilliamG]

Meh I'll add my only 'almost' story. I was driving along yesterday and a squirrel ran out across the road. I looked at my wife and said to her 'I bet the squirrel swerves first'. Anyway, the squirrel STOPS in the middle of the road. Apparently it had found a piece of asphalt it liked, or something... Anyway, I'm bearing down on it at around 50mph and this stupid thing is sitting there. Anyway, since I made the bet/joke that it would swerve first, I drove straight at it, thinking it would jump out of the way at the last second. (I hate losing bets.. )

It didn't move, and I drove right over it. I looked in my rear-view and watched it scamper away. Apparently, it went literally under my car and I didn't hit it. Now if that isn't odd, I don't know what is.

[STiNrg]

Yo, i had a jeep before i got my elcipse and i was driving to my fathers house. Well nice sunny day and i saw a kitten on the side of the road...Ok now im a guy, but this thing was cute.
It was just sitting on the side of the road chillen. So i slow down and my girl was in the car at the time so shes like "aww!" . well im going like 10 mph and that little F***er RUNS right into the street under my tire. Yo, this bump was so nasty and i nearly crapped myself. so now i feel really really bad and my girl is screaming. i was going so slow that i only ran over the little thing with my front wheels so i stopped to see if i could do anything or if it was toast.....
Ok this is the bad part so if your almost in tears now.... please dont read on.
It was crawling away.... its rear legs were flattened. You guys might laugh alittle when u hit little things but this little thing... man it was bad.... cring and everything, dragging blood and i swear i wish i was lien. So i thought the only humain thing to do (and i kinda freaked) was to kill it with my rear tires. [yeah this was kinda hard to do but i did it] Not plesant at all. BTW i was 16 when this happened and it was about 4 weeks after i was able to drive.

well thats my story... so please try to avoid hitting things cause its nasty and cruel (and i say this while i go hunting every year) and sometimes leaves some bad mental scares.... including damage to your car if it's big enough.

[coyote73176]

I'd have to agree..hitting critters isn't the best feeling in the world... and I have most certainly hit my fair share (none in the WRX yet "THANK GOD"). I had a similar squirrel flying incident, but in my case was a farm cat. Little punk just ran out and left me no where to go. Never thought a cat could fly that high into the air after coming out of the rear section of the car... and yes deer "SUCK", in my life cars 0 deer 6

[kushdogg]

I was at the STPR last year and was trying to get to the viewing area at one of the stages before it closed, I had like 15 minutes. So i turn on this country road and it's the straightest road with out lights I've ever seen, so of course I punch it. Anyway I was doing 110-115 and off my left I see two birds flying across the road. I'm thinking "One of these guys is getting all f'd up". Sure enough, THUD! Had a couple of featers stick to the windshield and a nice small crack from about the middle of the glass to the end on my side. Right at eye level too. It's VERY thin but you can still notice sometimes if the light hits it the right way.

So is that like WRX 1 Bird 1?

[GTP_Gator]

Damn you guys have me in tears It's fookin love bug season here in FL so it's-
Grand Prix-32156446531 Love Bugs-0

Does anyone else around the country get them?

[LemonHerb]

Yah but if the squirrel had a boost controller and slicks it would have owned you. Admit it!

[MaK10]

love bugs? those damn like little lady bug things? we get those things like crazy up here... like thousands of them swarm the sides of my work building.. and eventually some of them get in... its really freakin annoying

[fengshui]

I backed into my old dog once with my jeep. He was right under the rear tire as I was backing up. Surprisingly, I didn't kill him and the vet put him back together good as new (pop his eye back in, grusome yes!). Two weeks later he ate rat poison. He survived that too after going to the vet. Finally a year later he became sick and jaundiced and wasn't eating. We had to put him down and I cried and buried him. But damn he thought he was a cat w/ 9 lives.

chris

[ripcuda]

Originally posted by GTP_Gator
Damn you guys have me in tears It's fookin love bug season here in FL so it's-
Grand Prix-32156446531 Love Bugs-0

Does anyone else around the country get them?

Ahhh the lovebugs! Where my mom lives in Arkansas... they get them BAD! And them suckers will ruin a paint job with their guts all splattered everywhere. Gotta wash them critters off every couple of days.

My only memorable "near" roadkill incident... would have left me as the roadkill. I was cruising back to college in Daytona from a girlfriend's house who lived out in the literal middle of nowhere in the woods of central Florida... northeast of Ocala. It was probably around 8pm and dark as only the tall, telephone pole tree'd woods of Florida can be on a New Moon night. I was cruising on my old Kawasaki 650 cruiser bike... the old kind with only one headlight that barely illuminates the road in front of you. Well, central Florida has a large deer population... probably more deer than people... and on this particular night, I ran across a few. I was cruising probably around 60mph when I saw them crossing the road and began to brake like mad. I thought I saw the last one cross... I was probably going around 40mph... when out of nowhere another one is crossing directly in my path. My only choice was to swerve left to avoid the deer crossing to my right. I was scared to death! My heart was pounding hard and all that flashed through my mind was how long would I be laying on this back country road... literally miles from the nearest person... before some guy in a pickup would find my bleeding, broken body. Thankfully, my quick, fox-like reflexes avoided a direct impact... instead I clipped the deer's rear leg! I still don't know how I managed to not dump it... but praise the Lord I didn't. As for the deer... it was too dark to see... but I'm sure it's leg hurt after I pwned it!

[Kira]

Originally posted by coyote73176
and yes deer "SUCK", in my life cars 0 deer 6

With the damage sustained by your vehicle and the fact that if you hit a deer hard enough it dies, would that make it a tie?

[kushdogg]

Originally posted by Kira
With the damage sustained by your vehicle and the fact that if you hit a deer hard enough it dies, would that make it a tie?

I think grilling up some bambi-burgers would even up the score there.

[Kira]

I'll throw in my little roadkill episode. My father had kind of showed me how to drive by the time I was 10 or so. I didn't practice much so when it came time to get a driver's license, at 18 I needed some practice. So the very first night I took my hubby's blazer for a little drive, about 3 blocks from his house in the middle of my lane was this possum. I was on a curvy road and I did see it far enough in time but I thought the idiot would have gotten off the road by the time I got there. The possum stood it's ground and I tried to swerve around it but instead of avoiding it by swerving, I only ended up ensuring that I would hit it with both the passenger side tires. My husband started lecturing me about how he'd NEVER hit a critter in his life. I had convinced myself that I hadn't actually hit it, I was hoping it had ducked me at the last second. The next 30 minutes was spent with me arguing with my husband over the fate of that possum. The next day I drove by and saw that I HAD hit it. It just sucked!

On to my hubby's road kill episode. After getting lectured, by the hubby, one night he was driving me home and out of nowhere, this cat came dashing out from between some parked cars right in front of the blazer, of course we all know that those things stop on a dime. any way we nailed the cat pretty good. My hubby felt terrible about it and I felt bad but I knew that there was nothing we could've done to avoid it. All I remember was a light bump as we went over it and a "Blip-Blip sound" It was terrible.

One time I was driving my mom's cougar, it has the antenna up front. I was at a stop sign when all of the sudden this pigeon comes flying up slightly above the car, the bird hit the antenna as I was starting to drive and he hit the top of the car and glided of the bad. I didn't feel that bad for it because it was stupid.

[coyote73176]

I like that I was quoted... but unfortunately, if those are the rules, there would have only been one tie. I have never seen a deer fly that far (and this was the one that caused the least amount of damage to the car, a geo prizm in this case). I guess your almost better off hitting them dead on (may need a new grill, radiator and hood... maybe even a headlight... wait, I guess that wouldn't be good?). My case, just broke a plastic piece off the grill and a little dent on the hood