That's actually a different part of the subway, but I thought it was prettier than chipmunky sounding place.So then we got back to Texas on Saturday, the temperature was still in the 70s, and the city had put up these cute little signs:
Which is a lucky thing for those of us confused about what season it is. We're not likely to forget either, because we see the signs on the way to work and the way to school and the way to religious school. And for some reason, we also see dead squirrels. A LOT of dead squirrels.Religious school is less than two miles from here & we saw ALL these squirrels just on the way there & back:
We saw more dead squirrels than that, but I figure you can probably only take so many pictures of gored squirrel guts before your neighbors start to wonder. Actually, I posted this because The-Guy-Who-Knows-A-Song-About-A-Chicken has asked for a road kill post more than once. And what the heck kind of wife am I going to make him if I can't even post a few rodent innards as a favor to him?
Younger gal asked why there were so very many dead squirrels, and of course my first thought was that they were expressing their sympathy with the dying chipmunks of D.C. by committing mass suicide.
But then I thought maybe the mass suicide was due to them having been confused about the season when suddenly they realized (due to the signs) that they hadn't gathered enough acorns or something.
I was driving along wondering the exact number of roadkill pictures that constitute an adequate expression of undying love when a squirrel not so much darted but ROCKETED across the road, giving me an live (or narrowly-not-dead) demonstration.
If I had been driving just three miles an hour faster instead of meandering lost in thought about rodent carcass, he or she would have been squished flat to the pavement like the rest of them. Half the squirrels throughout the city must have been repeating his or her mistake at an absurd rate to produce this carnage.
Maybe it's the full moon.
21 comments:
Oh man that is pretty gross!
Derek - I KNOW! And if you think think that's gross, you should have tried being right up next to them taking the pictures!!!! ICK!
Chipmunks are like the musicians on board the Titanic they make music when dying. I giess you could call it a dying art form ;)
SJ - Yeah, those squirrel guts practically cry out, "Nearer my God to Thee", don't they?!?!?!
Yuck! I remember one winter in College Station where the birds were dying like that. The smell was horrific. Hope your dead squirrels don't smell too bad.
You posted a bunch of pictures of dead squirrels............ I am speechless.
Kristine - I didn't notice any smell, luckily.
Bruce - Not just ANY dead squirrels though! Determined, suicidal, EMPATHETIC squirrels!
Squirrels are not all that smart. Maybe they saw you were gone, thought you'd moved to DC, and were just really bummed about it.
It is summer here and we have all manner of winter themed Xmas decorations everywhere. It's very disorienting.
Sorry I've been such a bad blogger, both posting on my own and other blogs.
What is up with those squirrels? Blech!
Thanks for commenting on my oreo ball post. I completely forgot you were a pea!!!
Not only did you POST pictures of squirrel roadkill...you TOOK the pictures in the first place. You are my hero.
Christine - That's probably it. :-)
AFM - The funny thing is, it really did snow the next day after I posted this! Just when I was getting used to snowflake decorations when the temp is in the 70s!
Kerry - I forget too, every now and then. :-) If you've been a bad blogger, then I've been a bad pea!
Thanks Arizaphale! Who knew I could impress you with squirrel guts?
I had to scroll very quickly passed the dead squirrel pictures.
Be thankful for your 70 degrees. Today it's 1 degree here.
Ick!! That's awful! At my new work location there are squirrels EVERYWHERE. You'd think there'd be less squirrels than usual since we have feral cats on the campus too. It's almost like "The Happening" for squirrels or something!
Ackkkkk! I had to quickly scroll past those poor squirrels!
Eeew. Maybe there are a lot of dead squirrels because of a massive squirrel population explosion?
Sorry Alf. One degree doesn't sound fun.
Curly Glamor Girlie - I'm not seeing any extra LIVE squirrels though. It's weird.
Sorry Maureen - It's gross I know. It was even grosser to take the pictures. :-0
Loraine - I'm not sure. We've got a LOT of extra acorns. I did take a picture, but it didn't do them justice somehow.
That's pretty gross Jill.
Thanks Ricardo! (I'll just take that as a compliment...it's ok if it wasn't - no need to burst my bubble). :-)
Ack! I like squirrels! I know they are varmints and chew through attics and nest in walls and get drunk on fermented pumpkins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ikH9ZRcF2Q but I still like 'em.
Since I like 'em I studied up on them a bit. I read that most die in the first year.
I figure that they probably get run over by cars a lot more than getting mauled by a cat or something.
"The squirrel's erratic path while crossing a street is an attempt to confuse the oncoming vehicle... thereby causing it to change direction. This is obliviously the squirrels biggest, and often last mistake."
I saw the above fact in action while driving down a winding country road - the squirrel was crossing from right to left so we (checking to see if anyone was behind) braked and then steered to the right..and then the squirrel darted back to the right!
We managed not to hit it but the way a squirrel zigzags in front of a moving car practically insures being driven over. It's probably the same defense behaviour of other shy woodland creatures.
Hi Ms. Q! Yes, aren't sqirrels the CUTEST when they're not splattered on the road?!?!?!
Yesterday there was one standing on a tree limb right when I had to go through a security gate. He or she was SO ADORABLE just standing there on the limb watching me punch in the buttons. It was almost as if he were the one who got to decide whether or not my car got let in the gate.
That is so interesting on the zig zagging! I guess I had just thought they were indecisive or something.
Post a Comment