I’d like to think the animal survived since he kept on running, but I have no idea. It was almost as if it was trying to make it between the two wheels of the bike when it hit me.

I’ve swerved many times to avoid hitting an animal in the car and thankfully have never hit an animal with the car or caused an accident.

Hubby told me about an incident where he was in his friend’s pick up truck and the bed was full of stuff. A cat did about the same thing and tried to go underneath the car. One of the back tires ran over the cat, but the cat kept going. They pulled over to find the cat and naturally it was freaked out. They saw it go into a flap in someone’s home. So they rang the doorbell to let the people know what happened and that they had accidentally run over the cat. The lady picked the cat up that had come in the house and said he seemed to be okay, except for the tire mark on his fur and that he was panting. She took the cat to the vet to make sure, though. Miraculously he was not injured at all. Hubby and his friend paid her vet bill for the cat, so everything ended well. I’m hoping that this animal was okay as well, and at least I know it’s a possibility.

When I sat down and started beating myself up over it in the weeks that followed, I came to the conclusion that it was probably good that I didn’t have more time to react … because I would have slammed on my brakes (this was before anti-lock too) or swerved off the road and ended up flying into the ditch at 60 mph. While the rabbit might have survived had I done so, there’s no telling what would have happened to myself or the other humans on the road. So in the end, I decided it was just that rabbit’s time to go, and I was supposed to have that experience.

Not that I really learned anything from it. I have, over the years, put myself and others in danger by avoiding ever hitting another critter on the road … and on some of the roads in my hometown, there are tons of critters to hit. I have never hit another one (yet), but sometimes I wish I didn’t always have enough time to do something stupid, like choose to run off the road at 60 mph.

The thing that proves you are human and wonderful is that it does bother you. I know people who can’t avoid hitting an animal in the road and think nothing of it. I also know people who don’t even bother to try to avoid the animal in the road when they can do so safely (I call them assholes). On a motorcycle, your chances of having a serious accident were very high, so even trying to avoid it might have really turned out badly … so be a little thankful that the universe didn’t give you the option to react. It sucks, but I am a firm believer that things happen for reasons.

If nothing else, take away from this the confidence that you were able to maintain control of your bike. I can’t say I would have been able to … which is why I don’t drive bikes anymore (though I am considering getting one rather than a new car — won’t my mother just love that).