Half a mile into my drive home last night a rabbit ran into the road in front of me. Thankfully it was some distance ahead, and I lifted off the accelerator to give it time to effect an orderly crossing of the road. On seeing a fast-moving car bearing down on it, the rabbit turned and started running along the road in my direction of travel.
This presented a problem. Rabbits are slower than cars. Fact. The best way to run over a rabbit is to try to avoid it. Another fact.
In India rabbits are unable to jaywalk because the roads are already clogged with cows, who have taken jaywalking to new levels. Which just goes to show.
Returning to the matter at hand, the rabbit was making good progress along the road, while I was making efforts to slow down without losing control on an icy surface. We equalised speed at 15 mph and a distance of only four feet and then formed an unlikely procession. After 50 yards it was becoming rather boring and I was growing concerned that the rabbit might have a heart attack, so I moved to the other side of the road hoping to shepherd him into the open field that lay beyond the tarmacadam.
As noted above, avoiding a rabbit is the best way to kill it and, not wanted to mess with tradition, the rabbit also moved to the other side of the road. So I moved back. The rabbit moved back. Another three iterations of this took place before he finally forgot the rules of the game and continued into the field. In all probability he was so tired by this point that he stopped for a rest and was eaten by a fox (BJAI 7).
But still, I avoided a karma-decimating squishing and at least one of us survived the blog the tale.
Comments (5)
Wild animals are perplexing at times, aren't they.
Sheep must rank as the most stupid animals alive though. Actually - perhaps there is a need for a vote on the internet somewhere... most evil animal (cats would win that), most stupid animal (dalmations? rabbits? sheep?), and so on...
Posted by Jonathan | January 27, 2006 3:16 PM
Posted on January 27, 2006 15:16
Up here in Scotland you have to play dodge the deer on occasion.
Posted by Sally | January 27, 2006 7:41 PM
Posted on January 27, 2006 19:41
Rabbits are funny little creatures. And wild animals in general do very strange things in relation to the automobile. My father has had 2 seperate deer jump off the side of an embankment and into the side of his truck.
Posted by Noner | January 28, 2006 12:05 AM
Posted on January 28, 2006 00:05
recent animals i have come across on the road were: a skunk, a raccoon, and a fox... all along the same busy road.
Posted by suki | January 28, 2006 4:11 AM
Posted on January 28, 2006 04:11
Hmmm, at least you get to see wild animals on an otherwise boring drive home. I live in the city, and animals are never seen. And if we were to see one, i think the entire area will be cordoned off for the animal control people to find it.
I only saw a wild animal running alongside the road once, a fox i think. And it was on a vacation in Bangladesh. It was fascinating. I know, city dwellers.
Posted by Incommunicado | January 28, 2006 5:28 AM
Posted on January 28, 2006 05:28