Crittercide - meanderings of the mind

I live fairly near a forest preserve and there are often animals that forget to look both ways when crossing the highway. I have seen several baby Bambis recently which makes me sad - poor babies - along with baby 'coons. The big ol' guys you figure have at least lived their lives and if they decide to commit crittercide in front of a car, they've had their chance at life. I was driving home from work a while back and came across just such an animal. I think it was an opossum - didn't really get a good look, only long enough to see it step into the road, start back, hesitate, and in that indecision, lose his life. There is something very unsettling about critters getting squished in the middle of the road - and this guy actually did the roll off to the shoulder instead of the pizza on the center line, but all the same, it's ugly.

Which brings me to my other point (going back to Bambi). Do deer run into other animals in the woods? I mean, really. They see a car zooming down the road, running, if you will, and figure they'll just dart on an intercept course? Tag, you're it? Is this some kind of woodland creatures game like cow tipping? Kind of like my cat that likes to head butt. He jumps up beside you and BAM! there's that little head smashing into whatever body part he's closest to. Does he think he's going to knock me over????? I realize that at night deer can't see with headlights shining in their eyes, but I've seen these guys crossing the road in full daylight, in the middle of rush hour traffic. Usually they race along the side of the road first to see if they can outrun the car, but when the cars slow down to avoid being dented and furred, they figure it's safe to shoot across. *sigh*

Oh well. Whatcha gonna do?

More exciting news on the writing front next week. Stay tuned!