Life doesn’t always prepare you for the things that really happen. Often we are left to wonder, assume or just accept that there are no answers to the questions that come up unexpectedly from unusual events.
For example, this past week, while driving to and from work, I saw four dead things: two hawks, a small dog and a cat. The hawks’ bodies were lying, all lifeless feathers, along the side of the highway within tenths of a mile of each other. It’s possible that they were fighting, either over territory or a mate, and suffered wounds severe enough to kill them both. That, or a gun-happy hunter had a field day but didn’t claim his prizes. It made me wonder how often the local road crews pick up roadkill. Is there a phone number to call to report dead deer on the road? Where do the bodies go? If ornithologists count such birds, are those deaths accounted for as well?
The dog–possibly a pug or small bulldog–was lying by the side of the same road as the hawks, not far from the tourist rest stop. The cat was obviously somebody’s beloved pet, and was lying on the median closer to my destination at the time. All these bodies have been unmoved for at least three days now.
When a pet is killed on the highway, does somebody (possibly the aforementioned roadkill collection crew) check for a collar or identification? Would they call the grieving family to report on what happened to their pets?
I’m used to seeing deer on the road I travel, especially in winter. One bad season I saw 15 separate incidents in one month. Often the bodies remain unclaimed for a week or more. Only when the animals are particularly large and block part of the lane does anybody come out to move it.
Somebody should explain how these things work. It might make a television series. Sure it would be morbid, but it would also be factual.
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