Bloody wildlife...

Soldato
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6 Mar 2008
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Coming into work last night, I left a 30 zone and was accelerating when a badger shot out into the road.

Couldn't swerve due to oncoming traffic, couldn't brake in time... BANG!

Mk5 Golf Gti... Destroyed the lower grill. One spotlight mesh was hanging off, you can see the bumper is physically lower as it's tilting forwards slightly and upon closer inspection, it actually snapped the bumper near the bottom.

Heard him go under the car, it's lowered, with a loud bump as he went under the back end/rear wheels so I've absolutely no idea what damage I'm looking at.

I'm hoping when I go out I'm not seeing a large puddle of anything under the car :(

Looks like it's going to set me back a couple of hundred for OEM parts, although I am half tempted to build some crazy mad max style front out of steel just in case there is a next time.

Just dropped my monthly disposable on 2 new wheel bearings and to book in for a DSG service so it's going to have to wait until next month.
 
Man of Honour
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21 Nov 2004
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At least you hit something of worth. I hit no more than a twig - wedged through the alloy wheel spoke and severed the nipple of my AMG brake calliper. Cue huge bill.
 
Soldato
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9,121
At least you hit something of worth. I hit no more than a twig - wedged through the alloy wheel spoke and severed the nipple of my AMG brake calliper. Cue huge bill.
Ouch a seversevered nipple sounds painful:p. I've heard stories of people hit Big's things like cows and deer, they roll over the car and carry on a bit stunned but are fine while the cars a writeoff.
 
Soldato
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Lincs
Pheasants are the occupational hazard of living in Lincolnshire.....and them being the dumbest creature on the planet doesn't help.

At least most other wildlife usually attempts to get out of the way, Pheasants seem to actively try and jump out in front of you at the last second. Have lost multiple lights, grills etc over the years :mad:
 
Soldato
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Drunken badger punching
WOW great story, someone hit wildlife.....

Strong use of ellipsis, would read again.

I've only hit small things so far. A suicidal jay whose downward swoop from its perch coincided exactly with the path of my front wheel, and a couple of pigeons. One of the pigeons went straight through the brake cooling duct on my E46, but managed to take the fog light out in doing so. Loads of dead badgers, foxes, rabbits and the occasional deer line my 20 mile route to work. Particularly not looking forward to hitting any of those!

I hope your GTIs damage is easily repairable.
 
Joined
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Wilds of suffolk
Pheasants are the occupational hazard of living in Lincolnshire.....and them being the dumbest creature on the planet doesn't help.

At least most other wildlife usually attempts to get out of the way, Pheasants seem to actively try and jump out in front of you at the last second. Have lost multiple lights, grills etc over the years :mad:

Same for me, the do wait then go for it, then realise they are not going to make it and attempt to take off, which means they hit the car higher up.
Lost a number plate, broken grill and broken fog light on my last mini
So far the TT has firmly rebuffed all collisions
 
Soldato
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12,305
At least you hit something of worth. I hit no more than a twig - wedged through the alloy wheel spoke and severed the nipple of my AMG brake calliper. Cue huge bill.

As funny as that sounds, that must be some **** luck!

My brother works right out in the cotswolds so has a number of country/open lanes to drive down, and working late a lot of the times he's ran into a deer twice. Bottom front of his car is a mess, to the point he can't be bothered to now replace it all and have it happen again. A few cable ties to hold it up.
 
Soldato
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Tbh I couldn’t give a **** about your car. An innocent animal dying in such a manner is far more important to me.

Really jars me when someone wipes out an animal and worries more about their wallet and precious car than the life they’ve taken.

Sounds like he didnt check it was dead at the time either, potentially leaving it suffering at the side of the road.
 
Soldato
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I remember when i was 18 in my little 1.2 clio, coming home with my mother after visiting my grandparents, pitch black outside travelling down a dually cruising at 70mph as you do, and out of nowhere at the last second I saw 2 glowing eyes which I think was a wild cat it was at the right size, came running out infront of my car, no way I could have braked or swerved, so I hit the thing at 70mph.

Luckily I had the sense to not slam on the brakes or swerve and just took it on the chin as i shouted noooo, mum was like what what what's wrong as you hear a large thud as it hits the front and bouncing underneath the car, I was massively upset, never killed an animal before and admittedly I do like cats a lot.

Thankfully though the mighty Clio suffered no damage, front bumper was perfectly fine.
 
Soldato
Joined
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21,781
poor badger - in retrospect you were alert enough ? - thought badgers were usually more furtive, but, apparently 16-19mph in a gallop.

Deer side-glanced off back of car last year, at night, slip onto dual carriageway ... wondered why I had not seen it,
not easy to return and assess any injury, but would be a dilema if it were injured - police/coup-de-grace ?

.... still don't see many people scan the road surface to avoid pot-holes, so remain unsympathetic for those.
 
Associate
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Norwich
Once hit two badgers in one night. Hit the first one at 60mph it came off a field straight into the road minimal damge to car. I had stopped in a layby to asses damage and i decided to go back to see what i had actually hit. So driving back going slower around 40mph oncoming car so couldnt use high beams. Another badger had come onto the road and had dragged the other one from one carriage way to the other so I couldnt swerve due to the oncoming car and not expecting the badger to have been pulled across the road I hit them again. Not a great night
 
Soldato
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12 Jul 2007
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South East
Tbh I couldn’t give a **** about your car. An innocent animal dying in such a manner is far more important to me.

Really jars me when someone wipes out an animal and worries more about their wallet and precious car than the life they’ve taken.

I don't think he did it on purpose! I'm not sure he can do much about the knackered badger now, but this is a car forum where we can discuss his damaged car.
 
Soldato
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North Wales
The wife went over an already dead badger in her lowered MX5 years ago, it made quite a mess underneath but luckily we got away with nothing broken.

for months and months after a spirited drive when you stopped you got a very unpleasant smell of cooked badger :(
 
Soldato
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5 Feb 2009
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N. Ireland
The wife went over an already dead badger in her lowered MX5 years ago, it made quite a mess underneath but luckily we got away with nothing broken.

for months and months after a spirited drive when you stopped you got a very unpleasant smell of cooked badger :(
she was very lucky, badgers and built like brick ***houses and invariably a car will not be in good nick after hitting one. i fear the op may be looking at a substantial bill, especially on as it went under his lowered car. i've known a few folk to have hit them and every single time the car was a virtual write off - the risks of country living and all that.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2012
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17,494
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Gloucestershire
Pheasants are the occupational hazard of living in Lincolnshire.....and them being the dumbest creature on the planet doesn't help.

At least most other wildlife usually attempts to get out of the way, Pheasants seem to actively try and jump out in front of you at the last second. Have lost multiple lights, grills etc over the years :mad:
We get lots of pheasants, particularly when they've just been released for shooting.

I have a theory that they're not actually all that stupid, inherently. It's just that they're reared in a shed to about 6 weeks and then released en masse to a world they have no learned experience of.

Once the season is over, the remaining pheasants seem pretty switched on. Survival of the fittest (smartest) maybe, but I like to think it's more reflective of them having gained some life schooling.
 
Joined
4 Aug 2007
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Wilds of suffolk
We get lots of pheasants, particularly when they've just been released for shooting.

I have a theory that they're not actually all that stupid, inherently. It's just that they're reared in a shed to about 6 weeks and then released en masse to a world they have no learned experience of.

Once the season is over, the remaining pheasants seem pretty switched on. Survival of the fittest (smartest) maybe, but I like to think it's more reflective of them having gained some life schooling.

They definately do this on my route as well. Usually late summer/early autumn. All of a sudden there are groups of them hanging around in the middle of the road. Why the road and not the woods along both sides no idea.
It usually carnage down that stretch for a couple of weeks with dead ones all over.
 
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