😢 That’s a rough two days, Neko. I mourn those creatures with you. You did remind me of a time I came across a barred owl that had also been hit by a car, though. It happened on a slow country road in Alabama. The car that hit the owl kept going but I stopped and got him. I had a box and some clothes in my car so I wrapped a flannel around him and put him in the box and drove him two hours the next morning to Auburn University’s raptor center. He was so stunned that he just let me wrap him in the shirt and put him in the box. They took him in and treated him and he lived at the raptor center. The accident damaged his vision so he wouldn’t have been able to hunt in the wild. I got updates for a while because my dad was fascinated by the owl and would call the raptor center to ask about him. My dad passed 13 years ago so that was probably about 15 years ago. That was a good memory to start the day.
Aw, man, I bet that feels really crummy. I will take care to go slow by Leakin Park, because it's very wooded and curvy. I live in Baltimore City, so although I see a surprising amount of wildlife, it's mostly limited to the cemeteries and woods around here. There's a fuck ton of traffic and the animals seem to be aware, mostly.
But I can relate to the uptick in amorous hormones for all and sundry creatures. I've been writing erotic Cagney & Lacey fanfic for the past 5 days. (Not kidding, not sorry!)
Oh no Neko! That’s brutal! I can see how you would feel cursed with that record! …but living in the country can show us so much beauty and harshness. I remember a little bat being frozen solid on a door off our bedroom to the top of the porch. We had to wait till the Spring when he thawed and fell off. We get to witness so much being surrounded by nature and sometimes that includes death. You are not the grim reaper of the bird community. Things do get crazy in the Spring. Our parrot Mr. Pickles laid an egg…
I recently had a flock of Sandhill Cranes fly in front of me on a windy day. They dipped down with the wind. I hit the last one. Turned around and followed it into a front yard. The flock circled around and inspected it, but suddenly they walked a short distance and gathered and starred. Only one remained, presumably it's mate. They do mate for life, but soon it to joined the others. It had not died, just looked stunned and assumed a position with its wings. It looked like a Chinese emperor on the throne. I gave the lady property owner my number, said I would pay for rehab, and left per her request. A couple of hours later she called, and said it just it got up and rejoined the flock. I was so relieved. For some reason, road kill goes up in central Florida in the fall, around the full moon. I don't get why so many get hit at that time of year. Maybe it's mating season. One thing I've noticed is that when animals get scared, they return to the place where it wasn't scary. Usually right back into the path of an on coming vehicle trying to avoid them. Deer are especially bad about this. I adopted a slow down strategy, rather than swerving, it's seemed to be working, until this incident. A story went around locally about someone who ran down a person that just hit a racoon. They were oblivious, and didn't seem to care. Florida just announced a wildlife overpass along the I-4. I've always thought wildlife corridors were the way to go.
I’ve been noticing how few crows seem to be hit by cars. I take it as a testament to their smarts. Maybe they understand the physics of cars traveling better than others.
A nice contrast to the neighborhood Guinea hens who panic and scatter back and forth across the road in front of me when they cross my path
I narrowly missed a turkey yesterday myself, in fact I'm pretty sure his nails (talons, claws, lee press ons?) grazed the roof of my car. I'm always tempted to stop and take photos or sneak a porcupine quill or feather from a fowl that's run a foul (couldn't resist). Part of me thinks it will memorialize the poor creature but another part of me thinks I must be a morbid creep. At any rate, it's somehow tragic and beautiful at the same time. Such is the way of the world. I'm loving your memoir (also tragic and beautiful). Perhaps you'll sign it for me at Levons in October, it will be my birthday week! WOOHOO
I used to feel so much dread as a child whenever we passed road kill. I'd look over at my mom and notice that she just drove on by. Maybe she grimaced for a split second and then moved on with her life without saying a word while I remained paralyzed with guilt. Now I'm the mom who just drives by. I'll say a little sorry under my breath.
When I drive to Wales, usually early Sunday mornings, there is this one hill I descend that is always littered with multiple pheasant and badger carcasses. What on earth is going on there on Saturday nights?!!
So sorry for you and the poor creatures. I was exactly 3 sentences into your post when Tom Waits' "Murder in the Red Barn" started playing in my head...
Roadkill has its seasons just like anything
There's possums in the autumn and there's farm cats in the spring
Oh no, it's a horrible feeling to hit anything, here in Australia I have been pretty fortunate in my road kill contribution.
Kangaroos are a problem at dusk and they are heavy and dangerous. I still feel a pang every time I see a dead roo, in the main you see dead doves, pigeons but rarely crows who are pretty savvy and usually end up feeding on the roadkill.
The phrase “liquid turkey” will haunt me for a while.
Last spring a bird flew smack into a large window overlooking our backyard, and actually left an imprint of its outstretched body on the window where it hit. It looked like a photonegative of a bird, in the middle of our window. I cleaned up the body but left the imprint there for a few days— when sunbeams shone through and caught its outline, I swear I could see individual feathers. Violent but beautiful, like so much of when nature meets humans.
The owl woulda sent me on a spiral, too. I have hit only two animals in my life that I am aware of — a snake and a cat. The first happened more than half my life ago; the second nearly half. It isn’t that I haven’t done plenty of driving since, and I’m sure I’ve mercilessly dispatched a number of other creatures without realizing it, but decades on, I still get sad thinking about both.
The cat leapt out from the side of a rural road in Lake County, Florida. I saw the flash of her eyes and then that was that. I stopped. I wracked my brain trying to figure out if there was even a 24-hour clinic nearby that would euthanize her for me. We didn’t have The Internet in our pockets back then; for most of us, anyway, that would be another handful of years away.
No matter. She gasped her last as I stood there crying over her.
😢 That’s a rough two days, Neko. I mourn those creatures with you. You did remind me of a time I came across a barred owl that had also been hit by a car, though. It happened on a slow country road in Alabama. The car that hit the owl kept going but I stopped and got him. I had a box and some clothes in my car so I wrapped a flannel around him and put him in the box and drove him two hours the next morning to Auburn University’s raptor center. He was so stunned that he just let me wrap him in the shirt and put him in the box. They took him in and treated him and he lived at the raptor center. The accident damaged his vision so he wouldn’t have been able to hunt in the wild. I got updates for a while because my dad was fascinated by the owl and would call the raptor center to ask about him. My dad passed 13 years ago so that was probably about 15 years ago. That was a good memory to start the day.
Neko, greetings from now Lund in Sweden rather than Berlin! Have you read Helen Macdonald's essay on running over deer in the beautiful Vesper Flights? I think you should: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/24/a-collision-with-the-divine/
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/12/24/a-collision-with-the-divine-2/
Aw, man, I bet that feels really crummy. I will take care to go slow by Leakin Park, because it's very wooded and curvy. I live in Baltimore City, so although I see a surprising amount of wildlife, it's mostly limited to the cemeteries and woods around here. There's a fuck ton of traffic and the animals seem to be aware, mostly.
But I can relate to the uptick in amorous hormones for all and sundry creatures. I've been writing erotic Cagney & Lacey fanfic for the past 5 days. (Not kidding, not sorry!)
Oh no Neko! That’s brutal! I can see how you would feel cursed with that record! …but living in the country can show us so much beauty and harshness. I remember a little bat being frozen solid on a door off our bedroom to the top of the porch. We had to wait till the Spring when he thawed and fell off. We get to witness so much being surrounded by nature and sometimes that includes death. You are not the grim reaper of the bird community. Things do get crazy in the Spring. Our parrot Mr. Pickles laid an egg…
Brings to mind some “great” poetry from my childhood:
Spring is sprung
The grass is rizz
I wonder where the birdies is
Oh there’s one flying in the sky
Dropped some white- wash in my eye
Good thing elephants don’t fly.
I can’t believe that bit of doggerel is still stored in my mind somewhere. Or why.
Time to get in there with a mop and a bucket.
I recently had a flock of Sandhill Cranes fly in front of me on a windy day. They dipped down with the wind. I hit the last one. Turned around and followed it into a front yard. The flock circled around and inspected it, but suddenly they walked a short distance and gathered and starred. Only one remained, presumably it's mate. They do mate for life, but soon it to joined the others. It had not died, just looked stunned and assumed a position with its wings. It looked like a Chinese emperor on the throne. I gave the lady property owner my number, said I would pay for rehab, and left per her request. A couple of hours later she called, and said it just it got up and rejoined the flock. I was so relieved. For some reason, road kill goes up in central Florida in the fall, around the full moon. I don't get why so many get hit at that time of year. Maybe it's mating season. One thing I've noticed is that when animals get scared, they return to the place where it wasn't scary. Usually right back into the path of an on coming vehicle trying to avoid them. Deer are especially bad about this. I adopted a slow down strategy, rather than swerving, it's seemed to be working, until this incident. A story went around locally about someone who ran down a person that just hit a racoon. They were oblivious, and didn't seem to care. Florida just announced a wildlife overpass along the I-4. I've always thought wildlife corridors were the way to go.
I’ve been noticing how few crows seem to be hit by cars. I take it as a testament to their smarts. Maybe they understand the physics of cars traveling better than others.
A nice contrast to the neighborhood Guinea hens who panic and scatter back and forth across the road in front of me when they cross my path
I narrowly missed a turkey yesterday myself, in fact I'm pretty sure his nails (talons, claws, lee press ons?) grazed the roof of my car. I'm always tempted to stop and take photos or sneak a porcupine quill or feather from a fowl that's run a foul (couldn't resist). Part of me thinks it will memorialize the poor creature but another part of me thinks I must be a morbid creep. At any rate, it's somehow tragic and beautiful at the same time. Such is the way of the world. I'm loving your memoir (also tragic and beautiful). Perhaps you'll sign it for me at Levons in October, it will be my birthday week! WOOHOO
I used to feel so much dread as a child whenever we passed road kill. I'd look over at my mom and notice that she just drove on by. Maybe she grimaced for a split second and then moved on with her life without saying a word while I remained paralyzed with guilt. Now I'm the mom who just drives by. I'll say a little sorry under my breath.
When I drive to Wales, usually early Sunday mornings, there is this one hill I descend that is always littered with multiple pheasant and badger carcasses. What on earth is going on there on Saturday nights?!!
So sorry for you and the poor creatures. I was exactly 3 sentences into your post when Tom Waits' "Murder in the Red Barn" started playing in my head...
Roadkill has its seasons just like anything
There's possums in the autumn and there's farm cats in the spring
Greetings from Hinesburg, VT
Lucky it wasn’t a deer or a bear! Or moose!
Oh no, it's a horrible feeling to hit anything, here in Australia I have been pretty fortunate in my road kill contribution.
Kangaroos are a problem at dusk and they are heavy and dangerous. I still feel a pang every time I see a dead roo, in the main you see dead doves, pigeons but rarely crows who are pretty savvy and usually end up feeding on the roadkill.
It is Autumn here, very mild and achingly dry.
Hope you are well, love from Adelaide.
Crushed for you and these beloved creatures! We had a Canada Goose fly into my husband’s truck a few years back. I still avoid that road.
The phrase “liquid turkey” will haunt me for a while.
Last spring a bird flew smack into a large window overlooking our backyard, and actually left an imprint of its outstretched body on the window where it hit. It looked like a photonegative of a bird, in the middle of our window. I cleaned up the body but left the imprint there for a few days— when sunbeams shone through and caught its outline, I swear I could see individual feathers. Violent but beautiful, like so much of when nature meets humans.
The owl woulda sent me on a spiral, too. I have hit only two animals in my life that I am aware of — a snake and a cat. The first happened more than half my life ago; the second nearly half. It isn’t that I haven’t done plenty of driving since, and I’m sure I’ve mercilessly dispatched a number of other creatures without realizing it, but decades on, I still get sad thinking about both.
The cat leapt out from the side of a rural road in Lake County, Florida. I saw the flash of her eyes and then that was that. I stopped. I wracked my brain trying to figure out if there was even a 24-hour clinic nearby that would euthanize her for me. We didn’t have The Internet in our pockets back then; for most of us, anyway, that would be another handful of years away.
No matter. She gasped her last as I stood there crying over her.