It was my wife's fault........we'd left the monthly folk night in Swanage at the end of March and normally we go back to my brother and his wife's house for a coffee. On this occasion my wife said she was tired so we just dropped them off and set out for home. If we'd gone in as usual......

Between Swanage and Corfe Castle, driving at the mandatory 40 mph a badger came out of the hedgerow about (at most) ten yards in front of be. I drove straight over it before I could brake and, as there was acar coming towards me, I couldn't swerve. It was a terrific bump but the car was still drivable. My wife said should we go back?, but as I pointed out, we weren't living in Wyoming and I didn't have a shot gun with me. The next morning I found that my lovely Alfa Romeo (156) had lost a large chunk of the nearside front bumper, along with one of its fog-lights. It still passed its MOT the following Monday. My brother told me that they'd seen the dead badger the next morning and that it was a pretty big one.