The cop and the deer

So let's just call it what it is, I'm a city girl. I might not have lived in the city all my life, but I can find my way around a subway system in a heartbeat, and have no problems with jaywalking, ignoring panhandlers, or cussing out a driver who just cut me off.

Now as a city girl, there are various parts of country life that I'm completely unfamiliar with, such as guns. And hunting. And fishing. And the general notion that there are dangerous animals out there that would very much like to mess up your trashcans, snap the hands off your children, scratch your eyes out, bite you, or any other activities that will most likely land you in the ER. And, most importantly, I can't handle the idea that sometimes animals get killed.

I realize that this makes me a complete hypocrite. I'm not a vegetarian, which means I eat meat quite regularly, which means I technically support the killing of animals. It's all true. Granted, I prefer to eat organic meat, which at least guarantees that the animal whose bodyparts I'm consuming had a happy, carefree life, rolling around in the mud, the grass, or whatever their preferred method of relaxation might be. And yes, I do realize that animals that were shot during hunting season probably had the happiest life of them all. They got to skip around the woods, eat grass, play with their siblings, until that fateful day that they walked into someone's crosshairs, and were swiftly dispatched into the eternal meadows. 

But still, as you can tell, I'm just not feeling the whole hunting thing.
It's the city in me.

People who grew up in the country around here don't seem to have that problem. At least not that much. I honestly think they're just more in touch with nature, they realize people need to eat and we all can't live forever. Or something like that. My in-laws, for instance, have lived out in the country for years. My mother-in-law has raised her own horses, has adopted a true menagerie of animals, including dogs and a pig, and generally knows what needs to be done when something isn't quite right. Did the neighbor see a rattle snake the other day? Mother-in-law will pack a small pistol when going for her morning walk, because there is no way she's going to let a rattler get the better of her, her grandkids, or her dogs. Is one of the dogs incurably sick? She takes them to the vet and has them put to sleep. Granted, she'll shed a few tears, but it's nothing like the drama I experience at such moments. My father-in-law hunts deer (with a crossbow no less), and thinks nothing of shooting the snapping turtle living in their lake if it starts to threaten any of the children, while I immediately sink into a complicated personal debate if this is OK, since I'm technically against gun ownership.

I won't say I'm a wimp, but I'm just different. I'm telling you, it's the whole city thing.

And I had to think of that difference this morning when I was driving to work. One of the roads by our house cuts through a wooded area, which is densely populated with deer. Anyone around here knows that the combination of woods, deer, and a road is a lethal combination, and indeed, I have seen several deer carcasses strewn along the side of the road. But this morning I saw something I had never seen before. On the other side of the road, two trucks were pulled over, and a cop car was pulled up behind them. When I looked over I noticed that the police officer was standing by a large doe lying on the asphalt. As I passed, I saw the police officer pull out his gun, and shoot the deer straight in the head. In broad daylight, with cars flying by, he just shot the deer. I was so startled I almost swerved into oncoming traffic.

Maybe it's the city thing, but that just broke my heart. And maybe it's the European thing, but can a cop just pull out his gun and shoot an animal?

Anyway, I can hear my in-laws now. My mother-in-law would tell me the deer was probably very badly hurt, or else it would have tried to sit up, and they were just putting it out of its misery. She would then add that that is the humane thing to do, and how she can't stand people who keep badly hurt animals around when they know what's best for them is to put them to sleep. My father-in-law on the other hand would probably joke that any deer dumb enough to walk into the road should probably be put down anyway.

But me, I'm just a city girl. And I kept thinking about how our vet lives right around the corner from where the deer got hit, and couldn't someone have come and gotten him instead? I think I might just be too soft-hearted for this life. Or watched Bambi one too many times. It's sad.