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!
