The Catalyst

By Kasey Mortenson, Reporter

Hitting a deer or small critter in a car is a very likely cause, especially during the winter. More deer were killed this year from car accidents versus the hunting season (huntingnews.org) However, deer aren’t the only things being hit by motorized vehicles.

On October 12, 2009, a brother and sister were traveling together along interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border when they noticed a large pack of coyotes on the roadside. The pack of coyotes ran in front of the car, the two heard a fatal sound and thought they just hit a pup and it was over with.

The brother and sister continued driving on the 600 mile journey to San Juan and made a few stops and didn’t even bother to see if there was any damage to the car. However, when they finally arrived to their destination, they checked out the front of their car to find that there was a fur and a body inside the grill of their grill. They thought they caught part of the dog into their car, but little did they know the whole animal was embedded in their car.

The two were quite shocked that they trapped a whole animal in the front grill of their car, and he turned out to be alive. The Miracle Escape animal protection program helped release the animal but it took many hours of time and precision, so the coyote was not hurt during the process of saving it. The front of the car was completely taken apart and the coyote was freed and only came out with a few scrapes on his paw. This one pup was a lucky one and a very lucky hit-and-run victim.