Today, I came across a headline from the Saltwire news network, which covers Atlantic Canada. It read “One woman hospitalized after three vehicles collide with same moose on T.C.H. in St. John’s Monday night”. I read the story; apparently, car #1 clipped the moose, car #2 killed the moose, and car #3 ran over the moose’s freshly dead body. (T.C.H. stands for Trans Canada Highway.)
There’s certainly humour to be found in the headline (only in Newfoundland!), but of course, it’s actually very sad for the drivers, and especially for the moose. There are approximately 700 reported car-moose collisions here every year, most of which happen at night. I am pretty nervous about driving at night because of the moose, but I no longer crawl along at a maximum of 50 km/h on the highway.
Here, drivers seem to play the odds. They know there’s a small chance that they will be one of the 700 drivers to hit a moose, but they drive at normal speed anyway. The conventional wisdom is to use your high beams at night, scan the sides of the road, keep your focus on the road, and hope for the best.
Twice, we’ve seen moose on the highway during the day, and once, it was close enough that we had to come to a stop. But not a screeching stop. So far, so good.
The headline is amusing but I know of someone who hit a moose with her car and she was killed. Environmentalist Don McLean’s girlfriend
Agreed that it is not a laughing matter.
I was thinking about your story as I drove to yoga in the dark this morning. There was not much traffic so I could drive at city speed trusting that no one would dart across the road. On the other hand, I did not spot one magnificent creature. Hope you and the moose (I’m pretty sure the plural isn’t mice) enjoy a long and safe adventure together!