In summer 2010, I sat in a truck with two friends of mine, and there were two friends (all of us girls) lying on the truck bed going along a dark route somewhere in Yellowstone National Park. Deer suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and my friend, the driver, turned the steering wheel left to attempt to avoid the deer and, unfortunately, she killed a female deer. The windshield shattered and there was glass all over me (as I sat on the passenger seat) and my friend immediately stopped the truck. It was pitch black and cold. Everyone felt very sorry for the poor female deer. It was horrible to have seen the body in a pool of blood. The truck’s body was badly damaged but the truck was still working. My friends and I were out of the truck, after brushing the glass off me, my friends realized that they had no cell phone service so no one could call to say that a deer was killed. All of us hoped that the deer would be found soon sometime in the morning. We felt bad for leaving that deer there. My friend drove all the way back to Canyon (I worked at a restaurant at Canyon that summer) with the rest of us lying on the truck bed because the windshield was completely smashed and it was freezing.

I’ve talked to my father about what to do in that situation after the fact on the phone and he said that he would just let go of the steering wheel, not turn. Your brother turned off the lights; that’s something that I haven’t thought about. Your family is so considerate of animals; very sweet. Thank you for sharing.