Do you hit your brakes to attempt to dodge any wild animal crossing the road lat

I brake for deer. Anything else is possible road kill.

The most unusual animal I saw late at night I almost hit looked like a large panther. I saw a tv show indicating there were panthers in Florida but supposedly it is a myth that they are in South Carolina because no one has hit and killed one with their car. I was within a couple of feet one night. It spanned the full width of my car. It was the only time I ever saw such a large cat in South Carolina.

I try not to hit anything, might be a pet.

If a squirrel jumps in front of my car, it will be road kill. I try to avoid anything larger.

Actually I prefer not to run over anything in the road but I know you can wreck your car attempting to dodge everything.

I once ran over a deer carcass in the road. It did not damage my car. I think I got lucky.

Two cars in front of me last night suddenly stopped going down a two lane road. I was wondering if they were on drugs or if they spotted something. You never know.

I've hit a bird and a bat while they were flying. The bat got stuck in the grill. I hit two dogs on the freeway once. A boxer and a German sheperd. The German sheperd was already dead. I drove over him and hit the boxer which went over my car. Car was totaled.

I tend to stay out late so I've driven home a lot in the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully I've never hit a deer. Several close calls though.

I did hit a raccoon last summer. Dumbest animal in the world. It was late on quiet two lane road. I saw it in my headlights running along my side of the road.

I slowed down and moved into the other lane but just as I passed him he turned right into me.

I like the deer who just look at you but just stand there like it's no big deal and wait for you to go by. The deer that run across the road are the ones to watch for, especially if there is a second deer you haven't spotted.

When you see a herd of a dozen or so, that what really scares me. I'm sure at least one in the group will decide to bolt across the road.

Anything smaller than a deer is on a case-by-case basis. I will try and avoid a skunk though every time.

Deer, elk, moose, antelope, wild sheep, bears, turkeys, vultures, eagles, wild hogs, any and all livestock -- don't ever want to hit any of those. Especially a horse or cow. Those will without a doubt ruin your day significantly.

I have hit several small animals out in the country. Once I was following someone thru an area I was unfamiliar with and speeding to keep up I hit a german shepherd. He flew over my car. The crash was so loud people came out of houses. The dog was nowhere in sight and nobody recognized the discription

Another time I was driving down from the mountains and a deer ran out in front of me while an oncomming car was approaching. The deer jumped from my lane I front of the oncomming car, got hit and managed to jump back in front of me and I hit it.

A friend of mine hit a deer on the freeway and totaled her car. The car behind her hit it also and totaled that car. A cop two cars back hit it also

Do not drive country roads in Mexico after dark. Livestock are often fenced out to protect crops. I came damn close to hitting a large horse that was just standing in the middle of the road.

What's the difference between the scene of a run-over skunk and a run-over lawyer?

In front of the skunk there are skid marks.

Careful driving the 5 down in San Diego County-you might hit a Mexican. This is not a joke-we have street signs warning you.

I break for large animals such as deer & bear. All others are possible road kill

I work overnight (I am always on after work) so I see all kinds of critters out there late at night, especially since I drive home on a road which is parallel to a creek for a significant portion of the way. There have been two occasions over the years where I hit 2 different animals late at night on the way home. One time it was 2 squirrels and another time it was 2 rabbits. Those rabbits are unpredictable and they are everywhere.

Deer totally suck, though. The second time I hit a deer, in my original Saturn, it really sucked, because it was within a half mile of the strip club I was going to go to. (I never did go there that night.) Fortunately, all it took out was my drivers side mirror, but I saw the deer running like mad away and right into an oncoming train on the railroad parallel to the road I was on. I don't know which was worse for the deer, but it's safe to say it had a deathwish. The second time I hit one, in the second Saturn, that one truly sucked, because I think it did some damage that I never did get properly fixed, although I didn't know what it was at the time. I live in dread of hitting something with my current Hyundai.

Being on a bike changes the entire scenario! On a bike, if they are small, shorter than the axle, don't try to avoid. Living in what boonies we have in S. Florida, I've hit many in my cars/trucks, even birds, but mostly opossums.

On the bike, only one, and I just got the tail as I saw him/her continue on, an iguana. This was on a four lane road in a populated area, not the boonies.

I brake for everything automatically, but I can recall riding my motorcyle in 1976 and actually running over a f lying bird.

Back in 1984, I was riding my bike downhill. I happened to live in Walnut,CA, a hilly suburb in the San Gabriel Valley. The SGV has a large Asian population. This old reject who probably was the only virgin to keep her virginity intact in Nanking, ran a stop sign, hit me, and kept on trucking like nothing happened. My Huffy went one way and I went the other.

I would definitley break for a cat or dog. I have pets. And i would want to hit a deer for my cars sake. If it was a racoon or possum i probably wouldn't risk wrecking.

I've seen the "Caution: Mexican Crossing" signs in southern California. I thought they were hilarious! The have a silhouette of a two adults and a child running.

Here's a pic: 4.bp.blogspot.com

This thread reminded me of this story:

01:33 PM ET 2 people die as bear flies through SUV A bizarre auto accident involving two vehicles and a bear has left two people and the bear dead, Canadian authorities said.

Police in Quebec said a 300-pound male black bear wandered onto a road and was struck by an eastbound Pontiac Sunfire. The impact sent the animal hurtling through the air, where it smashed the windshield of a westbound Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle and went out through the back window, regional police spokesman Officer Martin Fournel said.

"It was a 300-pound bullet," he said.

The SUV's 35-year-old female driver and a 40-year-old man sitting behind her were killed; a 28-year-old front-seat passenger suffered minor injuries, Fournel said. In the Pontiac, neither the driver, a 23-year-old man, nor his 19-year-old male passenger was hurt.

No alcohol or drugs were involved, and police are still trying to determine each vehicle's speed in the 90 kph (56 mph) zone, Fournel said, adding that charges are unlikely.

"It's a first, there's no doubt about that," he said. "We had similar accident several years ago with a deer going through the windshield and ending up in the back seat, where it injured a boy. He wasn't killed, he was hurt. But it was not like this."

It's bear mating season, and many male bears are out looking - sometimes recklessly - for females, so drivers on rural roads should be watchful, hunting guide Daniel Larocque told the Canadian television network CBC.

The accident occurred near the town of Luskville, about 25 miles northwest of Ottawa, Ontario.

I brake for any animal crossing the road. Don't want dents in the front end or blood spattered all over the car.

I'll brake or avoid small animals, including pets, if I can do so safely. I'm running into a tree or having a following vehicle run up my ass because some idiot can't keep his dog home where it belongs. I'll be apologetic for killing a pet, but I'm not risking my life or that of a family member over such.

Deer and such are another story. They are dangerous in and of themselves, so different standards apply.

I bagged a deer on the New York Thruway in 1973 just outside of Buffalo during a light rain. The thing just popped out of the ditch right in front of me. I veered left to avoid having it come through my windshield then veered back after the initial change + the impact sent me towards a bridge abutment and I ended up in a spin that I caught at 180 and ended up on the right hand shoulder facing the wrong way.

Ironically, the speed limit was 50 mph because of the oil embargo; if it had been 65, I would have been home in bed when the deer crossed the road. Even more ironically, the first deer crossing sign was about one mile down the road.