newfoundland_moose_sign.jpgI was driving home on a poorly lit highway last night when I had an interesting experience. It was a clear, but dark night and there weren’t many other vehicles traveling on the divided highway. There was one car driving fairly close to me, a few hundred meters ahead. I was mentally multi-tasking about some creative project as well as my visit with an old friend, when the car ahead of me slowed down while its brake lights lit up. Instinctively I began to slow down as well. I wondered what was going on and then, to my right, a hulking black shape moved from the shoulder of the road down the bank to the side of the road. Even though I couldn’t see it clearly, I knew it was a large animal of some kind. Based on the road signs I’d seen on this highway, I concluded that a moose had crossed the highway. The driver in front of me had seen it, slowed down, and avoided the animal, which lumbered on by. The driver ahead of me slowed down even further, so I passed his or her vehicle and continued on my way home to my destination.

This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered moose in this area, but it was the first time that the vehicle before me saw it first and slowed down. By his or her actions, that driver gave me a signal that danger was ahead, which allowed me to react. I might not have seen the moose in the dark and, truthfully, I didn’t get a good look at it, but I received enough information to react accordingly. The annoying thing about moose, of course, is that they are sometimes hard to spot even in good conditions because their colors tend to blend in with local scenery. However, moose are huge and heavy. You wouldn’t think they would be easy to miss. However, plenty of people collide with moose each year, so I’d say they aren’t always easy to see or else they aren’t always easy to react to. They pack a huge wallop when you collide with them so it’s always best to avoid them.

Here are some observations from this incident:

  • Moose are big
  • Moose can be hard to see, even in good conditions, unless they are extremely close by
  • Sometimes the person ahead of you will see the moose before you do
  • If the person ahead of you slows down, you need to slow down, too

Let’s put this into an even more generic set of statements. I’m going to remove the moose references as well:

  • Sometimes big things that can have a huge impact on you aren’t easy to see
  • Sometimes someone else will see the big things happening before you do
  • If they, like you, are also a stakeholder in some kind of activity or experience, and they react, maybe you should, too - even if you can’t see what’s really happening
  • You’ve got to keep your eyes open all of the time and you’ve got to know the terrain

Good little lesson for a Sunday night drive. And it didn’t even cost me a car.

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