As I rack up thousands of miles each month, I cannot help but notice just how many animals, both wild and domestic, perish beneath the wheels of cars and trucks that ply the roads. My last trip out took me through Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. I saw what must have been hundreds of carcasses! I thought perhaps I should make a count to see if what I was estimating was any where close to the actual number. Each day passed and I neglected to begin a count. This trip out, after the first day, I made my count.
Driving the states of Iowa, Missouri and Kansas for about 450 miles, I tallied 255 dead animals. Bloody deer, bloated raccoons, squashed skunks, and numerous anonymous bits of fur or feathers. There were hawks, dogs, foxes, cats, rabbits and squirrels. I witnessed 2 feral dogs eating a deer carcass in Missouri. Then, not too much further down the road, two dead dogs side by side in the median not ten feet from another deer.
Repeat this scene in every state with regional changes in dead fauna and you can understand what I've been seeing out here on the road. I can almost tell what state I'm in by the species I see. Gators in Louisiana, porcupines in Michigan, armadillos in Texas, well, and also Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, etc, etc.
A few observations about regional differences as I end this. I just cannot believe how many dead dogs I see on the roads of southern states. What the hell is up with that? Are there that many more dogs, do the owners just let their canines run free. I'm sure some are feral but I've seen many with collars and I'm sure there are no feral chihuahuas running around Alabama.
I have no idea how this could or should be addressed but perhaps just an increased awareness of what's happening out there by anyone that reads this. Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment