"Watch for Deer"

"Watch for deer! They're moving"

That is something you hear a lot when you live in the country. I usually counter with "To your town I hope!" which in turn just ends up with me getting a "look". You know, the one where they really aren't so sure of your IQ and really wondering if you actually have one.

You see, I am relatively new to country living since I grew up in Southern California and just moved out here in the early 90’s but I have learned to always watch for deer. My drive to work is 25 miles and only about 10 are on a state highway. Most of my drive is on county roads and there are days when I only see one or two cars until I get to the highway. Even the highway isn’t very busy. I absolutely love it!
After leaving work at midnight I ran into a co-worker at Wal-Mart and he told me to “Watch the deer. The weather is changing and they’re moving.” I thought to myself that I never stop watching for deer.
After leaving Wal-Mart I was driving down the highway listening to oldies on the radio and singing along when a police car that was parked on the other side of the road turned on his flashing lights and sounded his siren enough to get my attention. I do what every normal Southern Californian girl would do in that situation, I panic and can’t figure out if I need to pull over to the side of the road or slow down or what? What do you do when a parked cop flashed his lights and sounds his siren but stays parked? I slowed down to 35, turned my blinker on, and started to pull over to the side of the road (you’re supposed to do that when the flashing lights and sirens are coming. Aren’t you?), then I decided that since he was just sitting at the side of the road I didn’t need to pull over so I pulled back onto the road. I couldn’t figure out what was going on and I franticly looked around and then I noticed he was spot lighting something along the side of the road (on my side) and when I got there I saw the rump of about the largest deer I have ever seen! Of course, I wouldn’t have even thought about pulling over if he hadn’t of done what he did. Thankfully when I started to pull over it was quite a ways from where the deer was laying. I decided he was waiting for someone to come and pick it up and was warning drivers of the problem (I drove past it the next day and it was still there, I wonder how long the officer sat there). About a half a mile up from there I saw a smaller doe that had been hit lying on the side of the road and it surprised me to see two dead deer so close together. (Where was her officer with the spotlight?) Once I got onto the county roads I saw seven deer and most of them were stopped at the side of the road just waiting for me to go by before they crossed. They are so polite.