This past weekend, I saw a raccoon. Actually, it was three raccoons. They were huddled together on the road and scattered away when my car got close. Two went one way and the third went another, up the hillside. I would have taken a picture, but I thought it would be safer for both my car and the raccoons if I kept on driving as opposed to grab a camera from the back seat. That is a problem I frequently have. I encounter a great animal sighting, but I can't prove it because I don't have a camera on me. My own digital camera keeps having problems. I don't own a smart phone, although my mother does, but that still doesn't help me out. Getting my Mac out and setting up its camera would be too much work. Anyway, I have been missing opportunities like this for a while now. Just in the past year, I have had other wildlife encounters that I didn't get to photograph. In fact, I meet more animals while driving than while just staying put. Except for the occasional luna moth, I am rarely in a position to take pictures of of any animal I see. Let me give you some examples. For this post, I will focus only on mammals and birds. While I have seen more forms of wildlife than this driving, I just want to focus on the larger creatures. Or at least the more well known. First, let's go with the smaller cuddlier creatures. I have seen numerous chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits. Any day with a bunny can become a good day. Strangely enough, I have also seen a few rats and mice while driving. There are more raccoons, as well as possums, woodchucks (I prefer groundhogs, but I digress), muskrats, and at least one otter. Next, some larger beasts. Deer are the most common. I have seen them singly, in pairs, and whole herds, including one pack that ran across the road near the Pikeville floodgate. I have even been able to take a picture on occasion. Of course, I have also seen elk. I did have my camera ready at the most recent sighting. Unfortunately, they were in weeds taller than they were. I couldn't get a good angle, so I didn't take the pic. However, I have seen rarer animals, but let's check up on some birds first. Songbirds, including woodpeckers and crows, are so commonplace that I won't mention them by name. Turkey flocks are a little more common. I've even seen those flying over the road. One even flew down into the parking lot of the shopping center where my store is located. Then, there are the herons. For some reason, just started popping up everywhere a few years ago. Mostly, I've seen them flying, frequently alongside my car. Once, I almost hit one that was walking along the road. One also flew up from the creek (or maybe its just a large drainage ditch) near where I live. The closest I've been to the big birds. I've seen up to four buzzards together up close, picking over a carcass in the road, or near it. Finally, I am pretty sure I have seen at least one bald eagle. Perched, not in flight. This leads me to the rarest finds. I have seen at least one beaver, fox, and coyote near the road. Okay, the beaver was in a creek, and I wasn't driving at the time, but I did see it. I have seen a mink. It was the middle of winter, so I doubt it was a young similarly looking creature. I think I may have seen a skunk, but I can't remember for sure. Just a few months ago, I saw a weasel darting across the road. It was long, skinny, and very dark brown. It was so dark in color, it may have been an escaped ferret instead, but I'm thinking weasel. I've seen at least one ferret up close, so I know what they look like. However, aside from a large furry thing that I saw from over a quarter mile away that may or may not have been a bear, the rarest sighting I have had is a lynx. That's right, an actual Kentucky wildcat. It was last year, a few weeks before that wildcat incident at a local store. It was the afternoon when the feline crossed the road just in front of my car. It had the familiar ear tuffs, so I am fairly certain it wasn't just a big domestic car. It was about halfway up the Pike county side of Abner mountain. In fact, many of these sightings have been in the area: raccoons, deer, buzzards, turkeys, various rodents, and so on. My only complaint, besides not being able to take pictures of most of these things is that why I never saw them until starting just a few years ago. The animals were always here. Okay, not the elk, but most of the rest were here. I don't get why they just starting to show up "out of the woodwork" as it were. It just doesn't make much sense to me. At least I get to see them now.
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