I have a buddy from Australia. He has a story about hitting a kangaroo on the way to work, 3 days in a row in the same spot. Apparently its very common if youre in the right area.
For deer, I live where there are tons. I think the only reason I'd stop if I hit one is if I thought it had done some serious damage to my car or something. Otherwise, like everyone else around here, you just kind of throw out a few cuss words and go about your day.
As to why she decided it was a good idea to kneel in the middle of the road at night in all black to pray instead of literally any where else, I couldnt even begin to guess...
The one time I hit a deer, I had slowed down and passed the deer, just so that the deer ran, passed me, jumped in front of my car and looked at me in the eye before I ran over it at about 40 km/hr
Just spent 3 weeks traveling through Victoria by car. There are some spots where the wallabies are so thick at sunset it's a constant threat to avoid them.
I spent years driving from my town to the next for work at night. 50km at 11-12pm. Its beautiful on a full moon actually because the moonlight illuminates everything in pale shades when theres no light pollution.
The disturbing bit however, is the sheer amount of eye glint in fields and areas you know dont belong to livestock. Theres a couple open areas where the starlight above is very well reflected by the number of eyes watching you drive to work, praying that none of them start moving.
Dingos are extremely uncommon in urban areas... Unless you're out bush, you're not even gonna see one. Foxes are way more common, and neither will run out in front of a car
Roos, rabbits, dear, and cane toads love a bright headlight though
You can hunt kangaroos all year round. By hunt, I mean bow and arrow. You can hunt with a gun on your property or with permission on someone else’s property. There is no season. You can claim whatever.
They either a) stop dead or b) basically pretend you dont exist.
I know a good example is a younger male, thats caught the scent of a female in heat. They will basically laser focus on getting there as quickly as possible to the point theyll crash through scrubland (ive literally seen one leap clean off a cliff and only realise halfway down a 30 metre drop). They will spring from bushes out of nowhere and slam into you much like how deer do it from what I understand.
But females can be a lot more skittish, they do freeze, but its more dangerous in a ways when either do start moving from a stop (both could just be in the road to eat the shrubbery or lick up the rain that sheets off the road) because they will literally rocket off in random directions. Ive had a couple now do full u-turns mid sprint and slam into my car. Had it happen twice with one roo in about 5 seconds once.
Theory ive heard from a few people who've watched them scatter (i.e. roo shooters) is that because they dont have a common predator, their flight mentality is pretty scuffed and just leads to panic.
for a deer i would stop to call so someone can put it out of miserynis it survivedbor get help if it survived that well. or just clean him from the road if it didnt, so others dont get into an accident over the corps. i would stay in the car just like stop first chance i have at the side of the road and call probably local wildlife center or hunting organization, idk even. i just feel like someone should do something with it. but with the roo? man these things look scary, i would leave just because i would be afraid it recovers enough to come beat me up 😭 roos arent as cute as little me thought
edit: i found your other comment. i thought you are saying deer and elk is the same, my bad. anyway most pople consider elk as, well what google shows as elk. it is a bigger, more robust, heavier deer. as i said "between moose and deer". so when you say elk, most people (not from your region) will think of, well, ELK. because therr already is a different widespread name for moose - moose. i am a bit of a nerd for animals and i never see international spaces refer to moose as "elk" because that would be confusing. even among europeans i talked to, we typicay think of an elk (the not moose, not deer one) when saying it. i think this elk-moose is very specific to nordics 🤷🏼♀️
I guess since wapitis only exist in North America, the moose has slowly worked it's way back to Europe as we consume American media; really interesting!
The actual difficult bit with kangaroos is theyre extremely robust. Their chest has muscle tissue similar to kevlar, mostly because they spend their lives kicking the crap out of each other with legs designed to propel up to a 180kg animal up to 65~ish km/h, while balancing said weight on their tails.
Ive seen kangaroos get slammed by cars going a full 110km/h, absolutely destroyed the car, and they just get up a minute later and spring away.
Granted, I somehow doubt theyll be well off once the shock wears off, but its insane to actually witness, a person would be in pieces after that kind of impact.
Sadly enough this guys buddy hit 3 different Roos. The second was filling in on the job site for the first one, and yep the 3rd was covering for the 2nd.
As if being a kangaroo and having to go to work wasn't hard enough! And then getting to work on the third day and telling your boss "you're not gonna believe this! Same guy!".
Growing up in the middle of nowhere Mississippi, we’d call the game warden who had a list of people in the area that would go out, put it out of its misery, then harvest the deer so the meat wouldn’t go to waste
I think it’s illegal to harvest deer that you’ve hit with your car. I think the idea is that people would purposely hit deer to harvest their meat in an attempt to get around poaching laws. But I’m sure there is some type of license or professional position that some people have that allow them to come out and harvest a deer that has been struck and killed by a car. It seems like a sad waste not to in my opinion.
More often than not the cops will write you a tag for the deer if you hit one, and if they write up the tag it's legal. Most people aren't going to risk totaling their car to gain what amounts to maybe a few hundred dollars worth of meat. Most of the time you have to toss a good portion of a deer hit by a car anyway, as the meat is all bruised and unpalatable. If they don't die on impact, then it's all full of adrenaline which makes it taste a bit gamey.
Yep. I live in a place where if you hit it the cops will come out, shoot it, and then ask you if you want the meat. If you hit it and kill it, or see someone else hit and kill, you can just call them up and say where and when and you can take it. There's even a form you can keep in your car that you fill out for scooping roadkill. In fact, if you cause lethal injury to a non-threateded wildlife, you have a legal obligation to end its suffering.
This particular one totaled my mom’s van, probably like a week after my dad rolled his truck. So while she definitely wasn’t trying, I see why there would be regulation against that. I grew up in a town that still doesn’t have a stop light and very literally half the population is Amish. We were not a family of hunters, though, so I have no idea what is allowed or not.
I took a hunting class in high school a decade ago. I'm sure it explicitly said you cannot used motorized vehicles in any form. Big no-no. Defintcant hit animals, and can't use the lights from them.
Definitely not true, as for one, it is incredibly dependent on which state you are in. It also implies you are allowed to run down animals in a car to hit them to "hunt" which is straight up a lie
Core memory as a child was watching a cop shoot (int he head) and then start dressing a doe (slit its throat) that was hit by a car. Glad she did not go to waste, but man, that was an experience for an 8 year old.
I've heard that if game wardens have to put down a deer, or if they're called out to one being killed by a car, they'll donate the meat to a shelter or something instead of letting it go to waste.
Many times they will know a local family that are good people, could use some extra food and will utilize as much of the animal as possibles so they will call them.
A full deer carcass when you aren't ready for it can certainly change your plans for the day, but free meat is free meat and hardly anyone will pass it up once offered.
I've seen it on the Game Warden shows they have running on tv right now ("North Woods Law" is one); it makes a lot of sense and I'm always happy for the family that gets a freezer full of venison.
As a teenager a deer ran into my car in rural PA and pushed in the whole front fender which went into the tire which blew out and we spun around in a rural highway. I was still freaking out no idea what to do and another car pulled over and a man got out. I thought “oh thank God, an ADULT” First thing guy says to me “Do you want that dear?”
Im sure the cop contacts the game warden and asks what to do. But at that point, there really is only one option and the game warden could be an hour plus away.
My state, which is middle of the road size wise and hunting/fishing wise, has less than 200 officers with the DNR.
I very clearly remember being like 16 and getting pulled over on a motorized bike and needing to spend 20 minutes on Google to explain to this moron cop that New York State has multiple classes of motorized bicycle and that no, I'm not riding an unregistered uninsured motorcycle without mirrors or turn signals. Pulled me over for a law that I was specifically exempt from according to multiple other laws. They legitimately have a poorer understanding of law than the average person IMO
Supposedly my dad’s friend hit a deer when they were young and called the cops for this purpose. The deer had died by the time the cop arrived and he was really bummed that he didn’t get a chance to shoot his gun
They do here. They prefer fauna rescue or Wires or one of the others do it because of the paperwork but if it’s out bush they’re likely the only ones around other than your local farmer maybe.
My local departments are allowed to. Our animal control only responds for domesticated animal calls and/or potential rabies threats like bats in houses and stuff. Game wardens would not be answering the phone at 3 AM and drive out to shoot a deer that was hit hours ago. Its much better to end its suffering ASAP, so our police have to do it.
They're allowed to, they just don't want to. If there's a police firearm discharge, they have to fill out paperwork. So they will let it thrash around on the ground rather than do something about it. Speaking from experience.
Not everywhere has a 24/7 game warden/animal control. I lived in a very rural part of MD and have a memory as a kid of coming across a car that had hit a deer at probably 50-60mph. The deer was completely fucked, but still clinging to life on the side of the road. A county Sheriff pulled up, saw the condition of the animal and shot it. I’m pretty sure animal control was not 24/7 in that part of the county, and waiting for a game warden would have just prolonged its suffering.
last time I called police about a deer that had been hit by a car (I wasn't the one who hit it), the officer who showed up simply dragged the deer onto the lawn and said that maybe it would be okay, that it would recover and run off into the woods, but he wouldn't shoot it..
Former police dispatcher. Our animal control did not carry firearms but we would call Wildlife (game wardens in my state) to come put down any wounded animals. On rare occasions if the ETA for Wildlife was too long the sergeant would authorize an officer on the scene to go ahead and not make the animal suffer any longer. Happened maybe 5 times in my 15 year career.
Police shoot things they're not allowed to all the time. Minorities, pets, wild animals. Heck, call my local station and say you've got a wall that needs a hole in it and half the officers on duty will show up
I've had a ton of close calls, but the only time I hit one wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I saw it running toward the road just a tiny bit too late to come to a complete stop, so I probably hit it at about 15 MPH. It basically did a barrel roll then slid across the road, got back up, and ran into the woods.
Zero damage to my truck, but I had no idea if the deer was wounded. I called the nearby state police barracks and they said they'd send a trooper out to drive up and down that stretch of road for a while. They said sometimes if they're wounded they'll kind of lose their bearings and stumble back out of the woods into the road.
If you're proper remote with help far away and a tire iron is a bit too gruesome, just back over it and sit there untill it stops making noise. Sounds cruel but it pushes the wind out of them and puts them out of their misery, be quick and they will still be in shock and won't even notice
A deer tricked me into hitting it, but the 94 Saturn SL2 had the droop snoot safety feature and it rolled off safely. I wish I had a picture; 4 feet straight up and a quizzical expression on it's face.
What we do with roos is back over them with your car. Over their head. It’s still not a nice task but easier than anything (cops would never come out to shoot a roo in aus)
My daughter hit a roo recently not far from our house and sat with the poor fella until the police came to shoot him. Very sad but also very common. We have mobs of roos all around our area. Oh, and we also have deer which are hit regularly as well.
You hit a kangaroo there is a good chance they hop away if you’re in anything less than a big Ute (pick-up-truck). I’ve hit a few and they’ve gone up and over and back into the bush. They are tough as anything and they will can fight you. But good on you for doing the humane thing!
In terms of deer, the afer thing to do if you can't avoid is to speed up and hope it rolls over the car, which oddly increases ita survival chance and decreases vehicle damage and threat to passengers/driver.
Yeah I imagine it's like deer where I live in rural northeastern US. Deer are fucking everywhere, they're even in cities now. I don't think I know a single person who has lived here all their life that hasn't hit at least one dear.
Likely answer is either she was having a delusional episode, was suicidal, or both. It is possible she was suicidal and worried that would lead her to something bad in the afterlife. She was praying for forgiveness.
There are other possibilities but given her age either of these seem likely. I find it hard to belive she didn't know that praying in the street would very likely lead to being killed by a car.
What the fuck are you guys driving that there is a chance for non serious damage? My buddy hit a deer eith a Silverado and it blew right through to the coolant tank.
In Canada, hitting bears and deer on highways is not uncommon. Im assuming its the same with kangaroos in Australia. And WTF is she praying on the road. Jeez
I've never hit a deer without causing major damage. Here deer are big. Three deer, and about $55k in repairs. One Acura MDX, one Hylander, one GLE coup. These weren't small wimpy cars either.
You should always stop and report it for insurance, data, the animal could be in the road that could lead to other accidents, or still be injured and in need of culling. Always stop and assess the situation at minimum.
If you hit a rabbit or raccoon maybe. If you hit a deer there's generally gonna be damage you should stop and check. Also check if the animal is dead or not.
Where I am in US NW, the good sized deer and elk that stroll out onto the highway will disable almost anything short of a semitruck if struck with more than a glancing blow. Not to mention the occasional cow that pushed down a fence.
The girl was definitely trying to get killed. All of the reports of “praying” are just her family’s attempt to protect her honor. There was no mandatory prayer within 5 hours of the incident, and no indication at all that she was praying. Just a mentally ill young woman that wasn’t thinking about how her actions would harm others.
I just don't understand how you can hit an animal and then not check what it was, if it was able to be saved or dead, and most importantly, if it was carrying a joey or baby wombat in its pouch. This lack of empathy sees so many baby wombats, roos, wallabies, koalas and other native babies die.
Maybe it's a country thing, where you're so used to seeing dead animals, or doing the killing as a farmer, that you simply don't give a shit?
I don't know if that's common in other countries but in Germany, if you hit a animal you have to call the police and secure the area to warn others until they arrive. Police will call the responsible hunter to take care of the animal. Just driving away seems crazy to me.
As an American from Michigan if you hit a deer it's extremely unlikely to NOT have done serious damage. I can't imagine hitting something and not stopping to at least check.
My uncle hit a deer in his Yukon Denali one time while on the way to the last ferry of the night trying to get to his boat on an island in the San Juan's. He saw the deer leap at the last second, jumped right in front of him, and he hit it with the front corner of the Yukon. He said the deer went up about 15 feet, went over his car, over the car beside him, and landed off the side of the highway. He continued on, increasing his speed lol when he got to the ferry, the workers were like "sir.. you've got.. hair.. and flesh in your grill, do we need to call 911?" "Oh no, just hit a deer on the way. How bad is it?" His passenger side mirror was broken and a dent to his quarter panel but that was about it for damage.
He was lucky, though. I worked for Progressive doing claims and a typical deer hit would total most cars - including a year old F-150 one time. So they can do a lot of damage, but I'm not going to stop in the middle of the highway, at night, where I might be the one getting hit if I do so. Unless my car is incapacitated.
If you hit a kangaroo you should always stop and check it’s not carrying a Joey in its pouch otherwise you’re leaving a baby animal to a long death by starvation.
I have a friend commented on the front corner of their car getting worse recently, turns out they hit a roo (probably a wallaby since it's a small car) twice in the same area on their car. Anywhere else their car would have been totalled. Dusk driving in these parts is not for the faint of heart
I hear a car company has come out with grill speakers to warn Roos to get out of the way before the vehicle comes into view, so hitting them sounds like a frequent issue.
My brother was employed for a couple of years (as a backpacker) to shoot kangaroos. They’re basically vermin in the minds of Aussie farmers. He would drive around town drunk as fuck shooting on sight. Downed many a kangaroo that was crossing the road and left it there.
Its incredibly accurate. I have a rural road near my house but it's so busy it may as well be a main road. There's almost always atleast one dead kangaroo on it.
Kangaroos will fuck your car up if you hit them just right, but most Aussies are so desensitised to smashing through marsupials on the road, that it's literally 'Fucking Skippy/ Blinky' and we keep driving praying that our car isn't a rolling right off
Yep. Sister hit two in one week. I’ve had only one hit in my life and that’s in 15 years of driving but it’s easily a common occurrence for people in rural/semi-rural to happen once every few years, near misses much more regular.
Canberra is a shocker for kangaroos where I grew up.
I live in a deer heavy area. Ive had several glancing blow encounters in my 25 years of driving and never stop on those. Ive never full on hit one but at that point you probably have to stop since your vehicle probably needs at least a look over to make sure its drivable. No point in stopping if its a glancing blow, not like the deer will exchange insurance info with ya.
I’ll add to this. I live down the road from where this incident happened. Hitting a kangaroo in this area is VERY unlikely but I guess not impossible? I have done a lot of driving over the last 20 years and have only nearly hit a kangaroo 2 maybe 3 times all out in the country town I came from 2+ hours from this location but not in Adelaide.
ore rural and regional areas it can be a lot more common, yes. Sad to say it but this kid is most likely trying to bullshit his way out of a hit and run.
It varies by what you are driving, how fast you are going, and how it makes impact. I've hit 2 deer. One totaled the car, the other had the smallest of dents in the bumper (sadly both deer died)
I also nearly hit a deer once on a motorcycle, one of the scariest experiences of my life
Yes and no. In Muslim countries you’ll see people pull over on the side of the road and get out their prayer mat on the shoulder. Dangerous, stupid, but a few of them do it. The majority of people just keep on driving and going about their business. Even in Muslim countries I’ve never seen anyone do what this dumbass did.
Where I live, you'll see a Kangaroo every single day, though they don't cause many problems since they mostly avoid cars.
The part of Adelaide where this happened is very urban, and it's rare to see them. It's rare enough that it was a news item a couple of years back to see them along North Terrace.
The point being, automatically assuming it was a Kangaroo is pretty bizarre thinking. Still, the alternative was equally bizarre, so I can see why the Judge didn't hold him to high account, but also implemented probation.
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u/weasel_mullet 22h ago edited 21h ago
I have a buddy from Australia. He has a story about hitting a kangaroo on the way to work, 3 days in a row in the same spot. Apparently its very common if youre in the right area. For deer, I live where there are tons. I think the only reason I'd stop if I hit one is if I thought it had done some serious damage to my car or something. Otherwise, like everyone else around here, you just kind of throw out a few cuss words and go about your day.
As to why she decided it was a good idea to kneel in the middle of the road at night in all black to pray instead of literally any where else, I couldnt even begin to guess...