This morning when my coworker walked the mail to the mailbox, she found a beautiful female deer dying in our grass. It must have been hit by a car on the nearby highway – there was no visible blood or wound, but she was thrashing and trying to get up. My instinct was to stroke her head and whisper soothing words while I waited for animal control to come and shoot her – I knew they would, who’s going to rehabilitate a deer? But of course she would probably kill me if I got to close, or at the very least thrash more wildly and cause more pain, so instead I walked away so as not to scare her further.
A woman drove up in a van covered in cages, and for a minute I hoped that the cages meant hope for this animal. But she told us firmly that no matter where we took this deer, it would be euthanized. She pulled out a shotgun and I walked away. As I left I passed two dozen plant workers who wanted to watch. It took two shots, and the guys hooted and catcalled at the woman for having to shoot twice. It was a somewhat ghoulish affair, and I like the guys a little less for lacking sensitivity for this living creature. But I suppose that’s a feature of life, American life anyway. We have dominion over the animals and such. After all, it’s just a deer, as the men said.
Ahh, well. I didn’t cry, like one of my other coworkers did, but I do feel sadness. Life is life, animal, vegetable, or human, and I hate to see it end. Especially so (a) needlessly, and (b) painfully. And (c) in front of a bunch of idiots who have no empathy.
In a somewhat ghoulish mental move myself, this whole ordeal made me think of the "Cake or Death" routine Eddie Izzard does on his Glorious DVD.
*****
"Cake or death?" he asks his imaginary partner.
"Oh Cake," he replies.
"No, you can’t have cake, we haven’t got any more. We only had three bits to start with and we never thought there’d be such a rush."
"So my choice is . . . or death?"
******
It makes me feel better to imagine this deer giving Eddie a skeptical look and saying, "So my choice is . . . or death?" The reply would be:
"Yes love, but we have much better cake up here, and from this height you can shit on all the soulless wankers who were just laughing at you."
While I too eat meat, I cannot understand glee at killing something. It is always solemn even if you weren\’t too fond of the animal, or at least I think it should be. I enjoyed reading your blog and am envious of your travels and jobs. I too am finiding it hard to become a responsible grown up adult. Kudos to you for starting it sooneer, and taking much bigger chances than I ever did!Best wishes, Nora
Hello, I\’ve enjoyed reading your entries. It\’s a shame that people have to have such a fascination with death. That was a very sad situation you were in. But, I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!Sarah
very interesting considering the title of your last blog. i hate cars. there is a deer on the median of 40 that has been there since thursday, and countless blood-stains. i know it is the deers\’ fault for running in front of a car in the first place, but i can\’t help but think we have built our roads in their home. i can\’t help but remember something someone once told me about his trips across the less populated areas of OZ: he and his buddies would go out in search of helpless animals for the sole purpose of hitting them. how many of the animals on the side of the road were hit accidentally, and how many were targeted because they wondered to the edge and had the misfortune to be seen by some 20 something nincompoop who thought it would be fun?
Ahhhhhhhhh…. sad story but so wonderfully written! Wankers is right!"Pooping cactus" really made me laugh… you sure do have a way with words!Hugs,MuMo