I ran over a pigeon today. This has never happened before. I could have swerved, but they normally fly out of the way before the car gets there. Looked in my rear view, there were feathers flying everywhere, a pigeon laying on the road, and a bunch of other pigeons going nuts. Anyways, should I feel bad? The crows are a lot smarter.
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I have had doves not fly off quick enough and then get caught up in the slip stream getting carried right over the car and then be driven towards or into the ground upon passing over the car. That was with my last automobile thought a Saab 9-2x (Subaru Impreza Wagon). I have also had other unlucky feathered friends go right into the hood scoop on that car. The Prius has no confirmed kills as of yet.
It is a challenge getting a pigeon but I've done it a few times. One ripped my taxi sign clean off my London style taxi [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage[/ame] a few years ago. So I guess sometimes they get their own back.
It's all because you didn't have the noisemaker! And...crows are freakishly smarter than pigeons, and even some humans.
Oh boy, "Road Kill Squab" a little orange sauce, a side of wild rice, and a nice bottle of white! Deems Good Eats! Not really, it's a rat, with feathers. Besides, do you think that the Pigeon community gives a rats nice person to bombing your car with Pigeon PooP. Think of this as a preemptive strike! Geeze you crack me up LOL!
...Depends. Did it hurt the car? If you maneuver to hit one, that's one thing, but I don't think that I'd lie awake tonight fretting about it. I had a bird strike one time on one of my motorcycles. I felt BAD about that! Darned thing bruised my leg and almost caused me to auger in at 55-MPH. Think of it as providing a food source for nature's lawyers. I've actually reduced my body count for furry and feathered critters by not maneuvering to avoid. It's kinda like the NASCAR rule. Aim for them. By the time you get there, they're not there anymore. Mr. Squirrel or Ms. Opossum almost always tries their own last second jink to avoid me. Wabbits too. I live in the country, and I used to peg a squirrel or a wabbit about once every week when I steered to avoid. Now, I'm down to about once a month. I don't like hitting stuff. It's hard on the paint, and it's hard on the undercarriage, and the G3 doesn't have an overabundance of ground clearance, if you know what I mean. YMMV. We haven't had a good pigeon thread in a while.......
Did I try to hit it? No. Could I have moved over more? Yes. I'm sure I would have killed more had I done nothing but drive straight. I wasn't driving my Prius so no gliding. Had growling ICE so plenty of warning for feathered friends. No damage to car at all. Didn't even feel that I rolled over it, so I think it hit the mud guard or front lip. I thought the car would shoo them away. Stupid pigeon did not move, now is dead. His or her friends were lucky and flew away. So maybe there is a small dent in my Karma. Seems like some of you even think I should have had better aim?
I've gotten the impression that animals can commit suicide. Now and then I see one walk or fly onto a roadway, then stand and look, or look away, as a vehicle bears down. Creepy. Fortunately I've never run over a pigeon, but I do sometimes step on a duck.
Unfortunately accidents happen. I ran over a rabbit with my pri about a yr ago. It was at night and it ran out so fast there was nothing i could do. Maybe a coyote was chasing it. I stopped and checked it but it was totaled. Randy Johnson knows how you feel:
You don't want to get in the habit of automatically reacting to all small critters that pop up in front of your vehicle. You do want to be in the habit of driving defensively and plan on the worse case option. It's critically important to realize that quick swerves/brake stomps can end up causing damage to other humans (e.g. the tyke on the trike on the sidewalk) or yourself. I feel bad when I hit something unavoidable, but I don't change the driving habits to place unseen others at risk. You don't want to either.
Anyone who hasn't watched the video I linked in Post #3 needs to. Just click the link. Sorry but I couldn't figure out how to embed a dailymotion video on this forum.
Oh wow that was too funny ... that's exactly what happened BTW I passed the scene of the crime today and there was indeed a pigeon smeared on the road. I forgot to mention that it was a two lane road, one lane each direction, with a yellow painted divider. I forgot there was a divider when I originally posted. That's probably the reason I didn't scoot way to the left even though there was no oncoming traffic. @Bisco, I know it's just a pigeon AKA rat with wings .
Rat = rat Squirrel = rat that lives in trees Pigeon = rat with wings Birds are supposed to be fast, react quickly, have decent brains, and have survived for 60+ million years because of their attributes. You took out one that wasn't all there, so you were only helping nature cull out a defective one. Sad, but don't feel too bad. Wasn't your fault. EDIT: Love the Randy Johnson vid. I hadn't seen that one before.
