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Old 08-31-2006, 05:49 AM   #37 (permalink)
BadNick
Riding the Ocean Spray
 
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Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
My "worst" road kill experience was a few years ago in Missouri, near Hannibal along the Mississippi River. I was working at a pesticide/herbicide plant for a few days checking some of our valves and work ended late afternoon so I went for a drive in my rentacar to explore the area. I turned down a few unmarked dirt roads that looked like they would lead toward the river and eventually hit on one that went miles in, across farmlands, then after a few miles over a high dirt mound levy, you could see the river while parked on top of it, the orange sun was setting on this warm Summer day and I felt sort of a mystical aura of being in the "heartland" of America, a few minutes later as I'm kinda spaced out absorbing it all a young boy and girl, both barefoot came walking out of the woods toward the levy and I thought I was in a time warp back into a Mark Twain setting. After I left that spot, it was getting kind of dusky and I was driving down a local road pretty fast and came over the crest of a hill when suddenly I see a "herd" of racoons crossing the road, it was too late for me to stop without loosing control so all I could do was grit my teeth and hold on, I heard quite a few clunks under the car as I hit a few of them; looking in my rear view mirror I saw three laying in the road, but I just kept going figuring there was nothing I could do anyway. Later that evening, it was dark by now and I was heading back to my motel on that same road, I didn't really recognize that I was nearing that same spot again, when suddenly in my headlights I see a big fat racoon laying in the road, I'm sure it was one of the ones I hit before, and just as I get near it and just before it passes under my car, !!!it raises its head again and this time I can hear his head hit really hard under my car ...I sure hope it died that time

The suicidal drowning squirrel story reminded me of the one a couple weeks ago I found in the plastic trash can in my driveway, it had rained all night and a few inches of water had collected in it, I hadn't put the cover on yet after trash collection, so when I went out to cover it, there was a stupid dead squirrel floating in 4 to 6 inches of water. I don't know why he would go into it, but I can see how he couldn't get out once he did ...way too many squirrels around here anyway which reminds me that when I used to hunt and pheasant were lying low in the afternoon and we'd shoot a few squirrels, they are quite tasty, at least the ones that grew up around farmland and ate mostly corn and nuts. I think they taste better than rabbit, but I also like duck more than chicken.

When I was about 6yo driving with my uncle down Delaware Ave in Philadelphia in his big old '56 Buick, he ran over a turtle and when I got out to look at it, strangely enough it was a box turtle and still looked OK; so I took it home and that guy was my pet for about 6 more years before it died.

Last edited by BadNick; 08-31-2006 at 05:54 AM..
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