I love animals but frankly I can understand her frustration. This time of year is maddening. Deer are always on the move but more so during hunting season. They get spooked out of there normal grazing and resting locations during the day. They do not just lay down where they are at night. They cross many roads and highways to get back to their normal nesting areas.

It saddens me to see a dead deer on the side of the road or highway and honestly we need more hunters to keep the deer population reasonable. There are no natural predators. I'd prefer to see the deer on my dinner plate than on the side of the road where it likely suffered.

And you can't accuse her saying she hit it. She didn't want to hit it. And at night there are times you can't see them. Rarely do they just stand in the road or meander out into the road far enough ahead so that you have time to stop for them. They just POP out and you either have two choices. Swerve or hit it.

And if you swerve you are likely to hit another car, a tree, or worse, a pedestrian.

There are so many vehicle fatalities this time of year because people swerve to miss the deer.

Both the police and insurance companies stress that you should never swerve. Always hit the deer. The damage will be less and you are likely to walk away.

My mom was able to stop in time for a herd of deer. The last one out of the woods landed on the hood of her car, killing itself and blowing out her headlights and radiator.

A boy in my high school swerved to miss a deer and hit a tree head on. He's dead but hey... they deer lived.

*gets off her soapbox*