Braking for Birds

While driving back roads one day looking for wild mustangs my friend suddenly asked me, ‘Are you braking for the birds?!’

When I replied yes, I was, she shook her head and laughed at me….. Not an uncommon reaction, and the general attitude of the average automobile driver – ‘why would we brake for a bird? It is much faster than us on wings, and clearly it had to have seen us and had time to move out of our way!’

So here is the thing…. Yes they can see us, as can most any wild creature that dashes in front of our vehicle at the least opportune moment, usually requiring us to make split second decision what to do when presented with another living beings life in our hands and resting on our choice, a decision that could very well harm us as well as the wild creature (or creatures) in front of us.

But wild creatures do not have the ability to reason like you and I. They do not have automobiles, they do not know they are made out of several thousand pounds of material which will crush their rib cage and break their legs in a matter of seconds, sending them into a painful, hopefully quick but often slow, death. If they are female they will in moments be leaving their young motherless and defenseless, likely ensuring their death through starvation or by predator.

Birds almost always fly into our windshields, all they see is a reflection of the sky, to them a safe place to be, and they assume they can fly through our space and out the other side, just as they do in trees and other spaces that have tunnel like places they can fly through with no harm. Birds will also fly into our grills – I had a recent experience of renting a white truck with a black grill, and over a weekend had 3 birds crash into the grill and end their lives. It took me sometime to realize that the black against the white looked like a cave of some kind – needless to say I will never buy an auto with that kind of combination, I was pretty devastated to have caused the death of so many birds in such a short period of time.

When large wildlife such as a deer or moose charge in front of a vehicle there are a couple of factors in their reasoning…. Sometimes they think it is a game, we are a bigger entity and sometimes they see us as another animal to play with, or race against. In their world this game would result in one or both creatures suddenly changing direction and avoiding a collision. I have witnessed this firsthand from a Pronghorn charging in front of my car, as I slid to a stop, swerving into a (thankfully empty) opposite lane, missing him by inches, he landing on his butt in a last minute swerve to avoid me, and in that second of getting back up he looked at my car and contemplated charging in front of it again – enjoying the game of chase!

Fox, coyotes, raccoons, and other smaller creatures seen usually in dusk and night hours, most often seem confused by our headlights. I have watched them first turn to run away from the highway and oncoming vehicle, but then turn and sometimes zigzag before making a mad dash across the road in from of my automobile. Many wild creatures have eyes that see better in the dark hours, certainly better than you and I can see into the dark…. When light appears they are naturally drawn to it, however, it will also blind them to the surrounding dark areas, and leave them confused about the movement of our automobile causing them to make the usually fatal mistake of believing they can safely cross in front of us.

So I beg of you, the next time you see a wild creature, whether it be winged or four footed, please, give it a brake... Remember, they don’t know the things you and me know – their world is limited to the things they were created to understand. Always, always, be safe and consider your safety when making that split-second decision ; brake, turn, stop hard, stop slow, whatever it is you do, consider your own safety in all actions, as well as passengers you have with you, and whatever traffic you have around you – but give those wild creatures a fighting chance as well. From birds to squirrels to deer and moose, they were all created by God, and he created them in love, giving them to us to care for and be stewards of – let us be good stewards in all things given to us.