A pregnant doe that was killed by a car in Hughes' neighborhood with a sign warning people to slow down nearby. Photo by Georgia Hughes.

Last weekend, one of our neighbors – who was out for a morning walk – knocked on our door to inform us that our neighborhood's doe was lying dead in our next-door neighbor's driveway.

But, there was something else that she didn't see.

Not only was the doe dead, but the car that had "hit and run" the doe, caused her to abort her fawn – judging from the size of the unborn fawn, it probably could have been saved if the driver could have stopped to check.

I'm thinking that the driver probably saw the deer go down and stop moving so didn't stop. It did knock out some of the plastic light casings off of the car.

People must be aware that it is springtime and animals are showing up in places they generally do not show up in.

The area where we live is very rural and supports many different animals; still, they haven't all been "crowded out" yet by development, but change is unfortunately coming with new planned developments out this way.

Next on our streets near my home will be baby skunks. I usually end up having to call local rescue each year for baby skunks that have been stranded when their mother is killed due to people driving without care down our nice straight road of one-quarter mile. Most people drive the straight road like the highway it used to be many moons ago.

This doe is from a very small herd that visits our region each year to raise their young (perhaps we will never see them again after this). So far, I have not seen another doe, only a buck. No one feeds them and this small herd (the most I have counted in my 10 years out here is about four) is always very healthy looking, unlike the large herd in Hidden Valley.

This doe's death touched many of us who live out this way. You see, many of us chose to live rurally – and not side by side in our homes like in most subdivisions in our area. We enjoy listening and viewing our local coyote herd, nearby cows, our few remaining jackrabbits and one remaining red fox, as well as seeing our local group of wild turkeys, raccoons, opossums, one pair of nesting ring-necked pheasants, turtles, etc.

In order to help our local animals, I feel we must do as much as possible to help spread the word to those who are unaware and this is why I'm writing.

The sign my husband and I erected next to the doe reads: "Dead mother and unborn fawn – please drive slowly."

We had to view the deer for two full days ... the police department told us to call Fish and Game, but they are closed on the weekends; after that, the police department had no idea what to do. Next we called our local rescue person; she said that Timberline Disposal has the contract to pick up dead animals, but they were also closed.

Finally, one of our neighbors who owns a pickup truck was able, with my husband's help, to load the two deer up and take them to local field. Hopefully the vultures and others were able to at least have a meal and their deaths were not a complete waste.

Georgia Hughes lives in Clearlake.

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