What to do about this fear?

Ok, I’m sooo sorry that this is a bit long, but I thank you VERY much if you read it all. I know this is probably REALLY weird… but it’s true! I’m afraid of deer. I don’t know what exactly causes it, but I am. Anytime I see one, I get freaked out and want to cover my eyes. They’re big animals and are VERY dangerous. They cause a lot of damage if you hit them. They can cause injury/death too. All the stories about them don’t help either (I’ve heard of them actually coming through windsheilds or flying up over the vehicle and causing someone near to crash also. My mom has hit one before. It was a doe… but she was pretty big. I was thankfully not with her when that happened. She was not hurt but our Dodge truck had some bad front end damage to it. I am old enough to drive, but don’t have my license because I’m afraid that if I go out driving, I’ll hit onea them things!!! I think bucks scare me a little more than does because of their antlers and they are a little bigger than does usually. One time when I was out, HUGE buck standing by the road his antlers were MASSIVE as soon as I seen him I screamed and hide my face. I was completely terrified that he was going to run into us I’ve heard of that happening too… deer running into your vehicle or something. I don’t like being in places where they might be like roads that have lots or wooded areas and stuff because I’m scared I will see one. I live on a back road and just the other day my dad said he saw 2 small deer just up the road from our house. I myself have seen them there before. Sometimes I get scared they will come by my house… although I doubt they will since we live around a lot of people and we have dogs and a fence though I’ve heard deer can jump high but don’t like dogs*. That’s why I’d NEVER get rid of my dog… she has a loud bark and I feel that she could scare one off need be.

So my question is how on earth do I handle having such a weird fear?! Any help is much apperciated…

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Answer #1

First off, you are NOT a whimp. Everyone is afraid of SOMETHING. Secondly, I agree with what stavosh has said. In all honesty… deer don’t mean to cause us harm. They wonder into our paths and that’s not always a good combo. Usually deer-car crashes are NOT deadly and rarely cause injury to the people involved. Usually the deer are the ones that end up with injuries. Some even may need to get put down by the police if they are too badly injured and haven’t already died. The only time really bad accidents involving deer occur are usually when the person was speeding. That’s when you hear of such things as deer coming into the front seat and such. As long as you obey traffic laws, and don’t over react, if you and a deer come in contact while your driving, it should be fine. ALWAYS remember these facts -

~If you see 1 deer, ALWAYS be on the look out for more. Deer usually travel together… in groups of 2 or more. ~If you are driving and a deer is at the side of the road… go VERY slow. NEVER speed up to try to get away, as this may spook the deer and cause it to bolt suddenly, maybe going in the direction of you car. ~If a deer is in the road, NEVER try to go around it. By making sudden movements, you could overcorrect and end up getting in a much more serious car accident. It’s best to just hit the deer if it can’t be avoided. ~If you DO have time to avoid it, slow up and break slightly. Stop and allow the deer to move on. If it doesn’t move, it’s most likely because it is scared… try beeping the horn to get it to go on, or just turn around if there are no other cars behind you obviously and go a different way.

I hope I have helped and good luck with things :)

Answer #2

Deer won’t hurt you as long as you don’t bother them. So, you have nothing to fear.

Answer #3

Thanks to xx_the_a7x_parade_xx and phrannie and everyone else who has helped.

Answer #4

You’re going to have to “face your fear”…start going to zoos, or little animal parks, where you can watch them without fear that one will get loose…just watch how they move, how they interact, etc…Look at them in books, on the internet…etc…This will help you desensitize yourself to looking at them.

The best way to not hit a deer in a car, is to drive slow when you’re in a high deer area…I have to play “dodge deer” every night on the way home from work…I simply drive slow…it’s only when you’re not paying attention and driving too fast that they actually do big damage to a vehicle…they really aren’t very big. Nothing is 100%…but you can take precautions, after you’ve desensitized yourself, to do all you can to keep from hitting one.

phrannie

PS…it’s not a weird fear…it’s just one of those “things” …everybody has a little something that scares them.

Answer #5

lol wow we must have been typing at the same time phrannie! weird huh Thanks for agreeing with me… I hoped I gave good advice on this, and hearing that made me think I did :)

Answer #6

start low, try finding pictures on the internet, read about them, about what kind of animals they are. They don’t jump into cars you know, cars run into them. It seems to me you blame the deer for wrecking the car, but trust me, the deer is in much worse shape then the car at that point ;) they are victims as well.

When you get used to seeing them, maybe you could find one in real life, but that is a step you might not want to take right now probably. Deer are much more scared of you then the other way around so they will only come somewhere where they think no-one is around.

Hope it helps :)

Answer #7

Thank you to those who have helped so far. I know that it really isn’t the animal’s fault… but they just scare me. Something was on an animal show once and they said a deer attacked a lady when she was out for a walk. It was kept as a pet, but got loose. It hurt her with it’s antlers. When I seen that I ran outa the room. I feel like such a whimp by being scared of something like this!

Answer #8

Everything that xx_the_a7x_parade_xx said is true…they are never alone…you see one, there are more…

We must have been typing at the same time…because see? We both said everybody’s got something… :)…you can take that to the bank…You aren’t weird!!

phrannie

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