On a walk along the edge of my own property, about 4:00 p.m. yesterday, I found a doe in a roadside ditch, eyes closed but still breathing. She didn't look all that torn up but I was so shocked I didn't do a full inspection. After sunset, the coyotes would come whether she was dead or not. I raised my eyes and saw bits of car parts in the road.
My options: Ignore it; try to put her out of her misery with my .22 long rifle (the biggest gun I have); or get someone braver to do it. I thought all sorts of things: "Let nature (!) take its course." "I can't shoot it, it'd be too horrible, I'd never forgive myself." "Should I shoot it in the head or heart? What if I did it wrong?" "For this I need a bigger gun." "Maybe she's just stunned and will get up and walk away." "Am I obliged to do this?" "Whom should I call?"
I did nothing. About 7:30 p.m. just as total darkness fell I heard one terrific shotgun blast from that part of the road. Haven't been back there to look.
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2 comments:
I'm sorry you had to go through this.
Hard to see, and at least someone else came back to put it down. Maybe it provided some food. We hit a deer when I was young, and I've hit one since with my own vehicle. Just one incident of the collision between humans and nature. Still, it bothers me no matter what it is, and I'm even a hunter... but that's so different. Today a little frog jumped right in front of the truck and I cringed.
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