Mule Deer and Motorcycles

Motorcycles

Riding a motorcycle in Oregon is one of the greatest pleasures i have experienced. There is nothing like being out on your bike cruising down the highway on a hot summer day. It’s great to feel the wind in your face as you ride along and watch the heat waves rise off the sun baked blacktop in front of you. When you’re in that zone just motoring along with  nobody around it’s easy to think you have the whole place to yourself.

There might not be any humans, but wildlife is abundant in Central Oregon and you never know when an animal of some kind might dart out in front of you.  Mule deer are the most common threat to motorist since they often cross roads and feed along side of them. Morning and evening are the time of day that lots of wildlife are active, but deer are also active at night and on a dark road can appear out of nowhere.

In the wide open spaces of the west where people and cars are few, the animals are used to doing what they want.  When a deer decides to cross the road and it hears or sees something unusual it will do one of two things. It will stop in it’s tracks to asses the situation, or it will bolt in what ever direction it feels safest. This makes for hazardous  driving, but even more so when you are on a motorcycle.

My friend Bear found out the hard way. Bear is an experienced rider and has logged hundreds of hours riding his Harley.  While always cautious, he has had his share of close calls with livestock  and wildlife, and even an owl that flew right past his face while riding at night.

This could be bad if you are going too fast

This past summer Bear and a friend of his were riding their bikes from their home in Madras on their way to Bend, which is about  fifty miles to the south. It was early evening at the end of July and the day had just begun to cool down. They were in no hurry and were cruising along doing 60 mph and enjoying the  ride. Just south of Madras on highway 97, a big mule deer doe jumped out onto the road.

Deer vs Bear

Bear had no time to react. His big Harley slammed  into the deer broadside, and that’s when all Hell broke loose….  Bear was thrown from the bike and landed next to it on the opposite side of the road from where he had been riding. His partner also lost control of his bike as he was trying to avoid running over Bear, who was skidding across the road in front of him.

As soon as they stopped sliding, both men scrambled to get their bikes up and out of the road. They were in a bad situation and they knew it could get worse fast. The accident happened at the base of a hill on the busiest road in Central Oregon. Northbound traffic, and especially big trucks would have a hard time stopping  if they didn’t spot the accident right away.

Fortunately the first car that arrived on the scene was being driven by an off duty EMT who attended to the injuries and called for emergency personnel.

Bears’  friend suffered  some scrapes and cuts but nothing serious, and was able to ride his motorcycle home.

The bike  Bear was riding was a total wreck, and was hauled away on a flatbed wrecker headed for the scrap pile. Bear ended up in the hospital with five broken ribs, and missing large patches of skin on his knees and elbows.  He also had extreme bruising to his chest (impact with the handlebars) and hurt his back when he lifted the 900 pound bike off the road.

Unable to work for the next five weeks, Bear spent his time wisely by  shopping for a new bike. Bear gives credit to God, a  good helmet, and riding at a reasonable speed for coming out alive.  Had he been going faster this could have turned out much worse.

Well i guess the point of this story is to enjoy the scenery and wildlife, but slow down and be safe.

As for the deer…

vultures clean up the road kills

Well, coyotes and vultures need to eat too.

I just love a happy ending.