Me first, animal way down the list.
Lesson one:
Was involved in a multi-car pileup involving a dog as a passenger. Nobody hurt, but thousands in damage to seven vehicles. Dog was just fine, at least he was as I watched him run into the fence line on the far side of the field.
Lesson two:
Neighborhood dog, I'm putting along on my shiny, unscratched KZ750E. I see him, finger the brakes, then grab a handful as he pops out from behind a parked car. He goes under the front tire, on which the bike is now balanced, and boink, I'm on my can, the dog is broken, the bike is scratched on all four sides.
Rule one:
Never overdrive your headlights.
Rule two:
Mount a big, gnarly aftermarket bumper on your expensive rig. It will save you big bucks.
Rule three:
Never steer AND brake to miss anything. Brake first, and only after you've bled almost all your speed, THEN steer behind if behind means the ditch, NEVER the opposing lane.
One thing I always do when I know (or suspect) there are animals is, check your mirror. If someone is on your @$$, slow down more and LET THEM PASS and run interference for you. I've done that twice where the guy zooms along and takes the hit for me! At dusk, it's great to use THEIR headlights to spot critters way down the road....
In general, I'll gently brake unless there's someone behind me (and I always track my six) but when it comes to trying to change direction, almost never, with horses, cows and moose being the exception. I have killed numerous birds, deer, dogs, pheasants, turkeys, almost all of them were moving fast from the roadside onto pavement, and I'm not interested in guessing what they might do next. Stationary animals, I've always been able to stop before I hit them. The exception was a fricking MOOSE, and I decked him pretty good. He did get up and run away pretty straight, I just hope it hurt bad enough to teach him a lesson.
