Road Kills Are Overboard

It was Sunday afternoon and I was doing some work on our porch when I was approached by Tom Ackerman, from the Morgan Estates, a condominium complex across the street. He and his wife Tina, had been walking their dog along the estates, when they came across a porcupine that had been hit by a motor vehicle and was suffering. “He can barely move,” Tom told me. “He managed to get off the street onto the side grass, but is now laying down and not able to move much.” Tom said they called the police and were told there wasn’t anything the police could do about it and our Fish and Game couldn’t be reached as it was Sunday.

North American Porcupine

I went to the site with Tom and his wife Tina and there we found the porcupine breathing, but barely able to move. I touched it with a stick and it raised it’s quills up. “We don’t want this poor animal to suffer,” Tina said to me. “Is there anything you could do?” I was able to finally put it out of its misery. “I don’t know how anyone could possibly have not seen this big animal in broad daylight. There’s no reason they should have run over it like this,” Tom Ackerman remarked. I had to agree. It could have been someone that deliberately tried to run it over. Even if it was someone who was not paying attention to their driving because they were too busy blabbing or texting on a cell phone and didn‘t notice it in the roadway in time, there is no excuse for leaving it barely able to crawl away.

It is truly amazing how many animals you see that have been run over by automobiles these days. Squirrels, cats, woodchucks, deer, moose, porcupine, fox, beaver, fisher, turtles, etc. Yes, some deaths occur at night and some during the day. I know that some accidents are unavoidable. You can’t risk your life or the lives of others by causing an accident. However, one thing remains obvious and that is that in some instances these smaller road kills are caused by drivers who are not paying attention. And sadly, there are those who get their kicks by deliberately trying to run over animals on the road. It makes you wonder how anyone could be so cruel.

At night, drivers should drive with their high beams on, when applicable, to allow the best vision of the road ahead. In doing so, you have a far better chance of seeing an unexpected animal who is crossing the road. Also, moose are exceptionally hard to see at night because of their height and color. Using=2 0your high beams gives you a greater chance to see them and avoid a collision.

Drivers need to be very observant as to what is going on upon the roadways and take precautions. If you do, there would be less injured animals and road kills to contend with.

Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com

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