Unforgettable Night Encounter with a Mule Deer | US-287 Incident

In July 2008 I worked at another Security Position at the Target Distribution Center, at 4333 Power Way, Midlothian, TX 76065. This was just before Hurricane Ike made landfall in Houston, TX. It was another contract security position. As is typical in such contracts the Security Guards did most of the work, and the client’s employees made twice as much as the Guards – Texas Capitalism at its finest, and one of the reasons I am in the Philippines now.

It was well past midnight, and I was driving northwest on US-287. I was past Old Fort Worth Road, eight and a half miles into the trip home. It was one of those nights of dense ground fog where cotton puffs of fog whipped past the windows. Suddenly, right in front of me was a Mule Deer. I saw it right in my headlights, glowing eyes and all. I stomped on the breaks, just as it is recommended not to, and slid into the deer as it leaped, and struck the front passenger corner of my grill, and front fender.

I pulled to the side of the road. Breathing hard from the jolt of adrenaline, I swung open the driver door and ran to the front of the van. Everything looked fine. Grill was intact. Headlight was perfectly bright. The front fender was normal.  There was no damage. There was no deer. Just fog.

To be Continued