[Tonchi]

What you have to understand about New Mexico is that RANCHERS are the powers who run the state. Just like the developers run the cities of California, the ranch-rich always hold the governor's office in NM. All the contributions to elect said ranchers come from you-know-where = OTHER ranchers. Therefore the laws of the range and land management regulations which originated nearly 200 years ago are frozen in place in NM. If you hit somebody's cow, even if it ran at you and jumped into your truck with you, YOU pay. Plus you have to pay the Highway Patrol to have the carcass removed and have your own vehicle towed home. I was told the prisons got dibs on such "road kill" if the owner was not readily available to claim it, so they definitely ate better than most of the residents of the state or on the rez as far as high-quality protein. NM residents used to get out the checkbook right after they saw the flashing lights coming. So I can hardly blame Mari for leaving the "scene of the crime" so long as her car was still drivable.