Eyewitness to Death

It's probably not much of a stretch to say that death can put a damper on one's day... I suppose for a period of time, really.

This morning, during a morning run, I saw a deer killed in traffic in downtown Oakland.

I was getting to the end of my run... that part of the run where runners say to themselves, "Wow. Even if I stop now, I would have gotten some excercise." This part of a runner's run is particularly euphoric. It's right after the "runner's high" has kicked in and you get that "floating" feeling that marathon runners are trained to live in.

Right when I was about to make the turn onto my street (near the Oakland Rose Garden), about 10m in front of me, I see what I first thought was some crazy biker trying to beat the light. But the sounds it's tires were making were weird, more like a gallop.

Then I saw it. A gorgeous deer. A three-point buck. Not sure what species but damn good looking. It started to speed up and run directly towards cross-traffic. I managed to say, "AAAAAgggghhhh... don't..." probably not loud enough for the deer to hear.

Then the deer jumped. It actually cleared one car but then its left hind-leg was clipped by a smaller car, which caused it to land funny. I was momentarily relieved as I figured it had fallen before and could keep on trucking. Then a small car, a blue honda, slammed into it and the deer went half-way under its front tires. Four of the six of his points were busted off immediately.

The deer decided to lay down... and then made a few death throws. The kind of throws that are hard to describe or immitate if you are not, in fact, dying yourself. Then the deer just laid there.

It was still obvious that it was alive. This is one of the situations where a firearm, pistol or rifle is appropriate and desired. The deer needed to be put out of its misery... a shot or two to the head would have done just that. In my past, working on a ranch, you first wonder why keeping a rifle in the ranch house and a rifle in the barn is necessary. This is why.

I stood there in shock. The girl driving the car that clipped the deer at first walked up and said, "Is that someone's dog?". I said, "No. It's a deer. It's dying... you don't happen to have a gun, do you?" She said, "That's a relief... I mean, I thought I killed someone's dog... I guess it's still sad that it's a deer."

Then another runner had the presence of mind to carefully walk out onto the street, grab the buck gently by its hind legs and drag it off to the sidewalk.

This has totally screwed up my day... I listen to people's bitching and moaning. And I don't give a shit.

This deer had made it to downtown Oakland... it shouldn't have been there. I suppose that's natural selection... deer that avoid us and our unfeeling machines that have no common sense will survive our time on Earth... maybe. That is, if we don't find another way to kill them.