A Bad Night For Raccoons

[TigerTrax]

Out on the Great Plains the signs of winter are in the air.  The weather folks tell us it will be another mild winter but the rain and brisk chill this October tells me the snowblower will get a workout.

I like Sunday morning rides. Jane drags around the house until late morning, checking the thermostat and makind certain her coffee cup is full. ( Being from Alabama she sees 2 seasons: June 1 to Oct 1 is summer; Oct 2 to end of May is winter ). I figure that's a good time to just be on my own and take a spin.

I like to ride out of the city ( 3 minutes ) and breeze towards the Platte River, a river lamented as not deep.... but a fearful place to be in the water with its current and underground channels.

It was a nice 37°F when I left the house. As soon as I left the 'slab' and got into the meandering byways through farmland I spotted a raccoon who made it about ½ way across the road last night and .... BOING....
his wandering days were over. I held my breath for a few seconds as I passed the nose down carcass.

I'll bet I hadn't gone 2 miles when I saw another .... splat.... squished in the middle of the road. Hmmm.. they both made it ½ way ... bummer!

During the next hour I saw at least 5 more 'unlucky' raccoons who met their 'big clam bake in the sky'.  This was definitely a bad night for raccoons.

I can only guess that the cold snap we had the last 2 nights had them on the move. Weather does that to animals.

SO maybe there's a message here. Like the raccoon, motorcyclists are moved by the weather. When it gets warm we get more active.  But unlike the raccoon, we need to be alert. Let's be careful out there!

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