Modern Vespa

A few things that have come to mind from this thread:

I had a classmate in HS whose father told him that, if a deer jumps out in front of him on the road, that he is to hit the deer, that the father would pay for any damage to the car. It unnerved his friends when he'd accelerate towards a deer in the road. The father's reasoning was that he wanted the venison (In WI, if you hit a deer, regardless of the season, you're allowed to keep the meat).

One of my twin uncles would go out every morning of squirrel hunting season and get his daily bag limit. He'd clean them, then bring them to my grandmother, who would cook & freeze them for him He liked the taste of squirrel (I never tried it, and my grandmother didn't care for it, either).

The other twin uncle was a game warden with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. When he first started with them, he'd go on patrol in the wooded areas of Northern Wisconsin. He would run across groups/camps of Posse Comitatus. They, of course, didn't recognize his authority, him being a state level law enforcement agent. So he would behave like a normal person, and simply be friendly and not comment on their activities. They'd return the favor, and would sometimes invite him to eat with them. At my dad's 4th wedding reception, we (the men) were all standing around drinking beer & telling stories, and he mentioned how he'd eaten all kinds of wildlife because of these run-ins with people in the woods. He started listing animals, raccoon, muskrat, 'possum, squirrel, etc. Then he said, "I've even eaten beaver!" Yeah, we all laughed at that. Once things settled down, he added, "it tasted kinda gamey."

Attila,

My Italian landlord's wife, Dora, would make rabbit in gravy with green peas.
It tasted a little bit greasy, but very good. The rabbit tasted like chicken to me.

When Dora would cook it for us, we would reheat in the oven, pour 150 Proof
Rum over it and light it on fire for effect as we served it. Great with fresh bread.

Those young days in Italia were great.

Bob Copeland
Frost Bite Falls Minnesota

My mother cooks roast chicken with potatoes, onions, rosemary and chilli (grown by me). Heavenly!

Federally controlled approved not road kill I hope.

Must have been driving some real wrecks....I mean, you can pretty easily total your car if you do it wrong. Though I guess a good pickup with bars on the front... Man, it's been a long time, but those guys dominated the news for a while. Seems like their ilk has been reproducing well lately....

As for game, the farthest in I've gotten is raccoon. Once was enough.

In Africa, even riding a mountain bike is dangerous, it would seem.
This guy got taken off his bike by a mountain reedbuck in full charge:

youtube.com/watch?v=8WppCEOg1Qs

Jokes? If a small Italian car hits a horse then it ends up in a puzzle box.

Is that the small Italian car... or the horse?

It depends on which horse ...

THE NATION: Pistoia, massacre of wild boars on the freeway.
https://www.lanazione.it/pistoia/cronaca/strage-cinghiali-investiti-1.5747726

Deer are everywhere in central Pennsylvania despite the huge, annual harvest by hunters. I've had close encounters with deer on my scooter and I've found no real strategy that works. I've seen them at all times of the day, in all weather except while snowing, and have seen them react in all different manners.

While I do ride at dawn and dusk, I am on heightened alert then. That means traveling much more slowly. And I tend to avoid places named by riders as "Venison Valley" or "Deer Hell" at dusk and dawn.

Reading the comments one item stood out that I may consider --"Aim for the rear, it may be gone when you get there."

I liked that but I have to admit the times deer have jumped out there was no time to do anything.

This was the early/mid-80s, so they were probably driving early/mid-70s land yachts or full size pickups. Yeah, I remember hearing/reading news about them a lot when I was in HS (mid-80s), then I moved out of state. By that time my game warden uncle was running the state game farm in Poynette.

In my years as a cop working the overnight shift 2 nights a week, I held the department record for deer hits with a cruiser. I hit 7 deer and an owl. Never had much damage to the cars because I drove a reasonable speed and the cars were pretty rugged. Some were killed by the impact and some I had to put down. Dispatch had a list of people who wanted deer hits and they never went to waste.

Did I get it right? Are raccoons edible? Wow!
And what is the flavor? I thought they were just for making the Davy Crockett hat. If you had had a small Italian car you would have changed it for every deer (or owl ) you hit.

Did you get a patch?

With so many deer you can likely get a bit hardened, but an owl? Poor thing.


Atilla, yeah, I think you'd be going for a replacement pretty easily. Hopefully not for the owl.

In many parts of Southern Africa you will come across the graceful Kudu.
At night they are often spooked by vehicle headlights and try to run / jump across the road, causing accidents.

The Greater kudu is a large antelope.
The male kudu has horns, stands about 160cm (5.2ft) tall at the shoulder
and can weigh anywhere in the region of 190-270kg (420-600lb)

Source: https://www.theanimalfacts.com/mammals/greater-kudu/

The jumping kudu is by Arno Pietersen from:
https://africageographic.com/stories/a-kudu-high-jump/

Alarmed kudu have been observed to clear jump 6-8ft fences !

During daylight in Southern Africa, you are more likely to encounter either impala or warthog crossing the road...





Impala have been known to jump 13ft vertically from stand still...!
Warthog don't jump - they cross the road like a battle tank.

Years ago, my former step-mom & her husband hit a deer on their way to an event one evening, and didn't have the time to take it back home, so they asked the state trooper who arrived on scene if he wanted it. He said that he wasn't able to accept gifts, but that he lived just up the road, and if the deer carcass were to appear on his property, he wouldn't complain. They took the hint, loaded it in the bed of the truck (with his help), and dropped it off.

Another sight unique to my part of the world.

The joyous Springbuck (or Springbok as we usually call them) from the ram's unique habit of spontaneously jumping for joy to show off to the girls.
It is called 'pronking' - an Afrikaans word for 'showing off'



"The action of 'pronking' goes hand in hand with something that makes springboks even more unique. Giving them their Latin name, Antidorcas marsupialis, is a pocket or pouch extending along their lower backs, beginning at the tail, housing an ample crest of snow white fur. The 'flaps' of skin fold together along their backs, hiding the white hair completely, until 'pronking' commences and the pocket appears to turn inside out revealing a fan of fur. Male springbok (rams), engage in this behaviour in order to impress the females (ewes), showing off their ability to jump high into the air and display the hidden white fur, which releases a scented secretion from the inner glandular skin. This waxy substance is said to smell like honey to humans, and in nature it seems to be as attractive, as it works to further entice the female audience."



(Source: https://www.getaway.co.za/wildlife/animal-stories/springboks-pronking-joy/)

The owl hit was a fluke. It was a very dark night and under my headlights, I saw a little mouse run across my path. At that exact moment, the owl swooped down to get the mouse and I hit him.