Smudges on the pavement

Alas, I'm referring to roadkill. It seems that Ontario is officially the roadkill capital of Canada. In my 40 hours per week in the car, not a day goes by when I don't see some sort of animal smeared across the pavement. While this is sad, I must say that animals are pretty stupid when you think about it.

Squirrels will, as you approach, freeze for a second and then run directly toward your car tire. No, I'm not kidding. I did, however, come across a very smart squirrel in Brockville one day. As I was waiting for the light to change, the squirrel walked up to a crosswalk, waited until the light flashed and then proceeded to cross. My guess is that the squirrel had a previous run in with a vehicle that made him think twice about not obeying the pedestrian rules of the road, since it had a pretty sad, ratty looking tail. The driver in the car next to me also waited for this brilliant squirrel to cross and we both shook our heads in amazement at the fact that it chose to cross before we'd begun to move. In case you're wondering, I DO break for squirrels, and any other animal that should happen to venture out on the road.

Birds are a completely different story. There are so many kamikaze birds out there it's almost scary to be on the road. Numerous times I've been swooped at by birds as I drive along. I can't imagine what they're thinking hurling themselves at an object moving more than 80 km/h, but what do I know? I'm not a bird.

Last, but certainly not least, are deer. Yep, these are animals that will gracefully stand at the side of the road until you're right by them and then they'll jump at your car. The dumbest creature on Earth! I can say that because one decided to trash the side of my car, leaving a tuft of fur in the left turn signal in the process. I've been skeptical about the intellect of deer ever since.

While these animals are "intellectually challenged", it doesn't mean that us drivers should take any less care to avoid them. I have swerved many a time to save the poor defenseless animals that seem to make us aware of the fact that it's not just other drivers we need to worry about.