Tags
Accident, baby animal, Black and White, Death, grieving, Night, Photography, Poetry, raccoon, Sad, tragic
Night Descending
Dusk, a simple cruise back home,
Busy road o’r a Friday night.
Swiftly took a hideous turn.
A raccoon Mother, shockingly so close to Mother’s Day,
Made a most tragic maternal mistake with her so very young offspring-
As all poured forth, just ahead of my four whirling wheels, I nowhere to turn.
A quick stop, but most painfully aware of I and my daughter’s safety,
And of those roaring machines lurking just in back and astride, still oblivious-
My horrendous braking choice made in an instant for all involved.
Those behind halted in time.
Those within came out fine.
But in front–sadness and grief.
The vibration and sound,
Told it all.
A little raccoon kit was no more.
Much sadness and grief
I have had in making this rough decision.
Who can be saved, but who may then be lost.
A taste of what,
Doctors and soldiers must go through,
Terrible decisions often daily,
Life or death in their hands.
Photos by Autumn Jade
to sire with love 
Tis sad , the right destan made , all the same , the wrong destan made , then the cost , coulde of been all the greater
Wow, that is a hard decision! I have hit dogs in the road – always black on a dark road, darting out in front of me when there was not time to stop. It’s heartbreaking. It can often be more dangerous than that, too. We have deer and mountain lions in our area. One time we saw an huge mountain lion sitting casually beside the road as we drove by. We were very grateful that he wasn’t walking across the road! Take care, and continued safe driving, Sir. 🙂
Yes, indeed, thanks for the support. We have seen deer by roadside, and grateful it stayed there until we passed by. Sorry about your hard decisions on road animals too.
A motorcyclist I knew many yrs ago hit a deer. It broke his leg in a dozen places and took over a year to mostly heal. I don’t know if it ever was the same. The bike survived and was fixed and he kept it!!
I bet the deer didn’t! Hitting an animal is never good unless it is a rattle snake. Then, as a walker along the road, I’d rather see it on the road dead than alive. Don’t tell Autty. She would slap my mouth for saying that! 🙂
OOh, too late-she heard me read it aloud!! Pushing me aside…Ope!
HELLO Marsha…this is smilingtoad babs. I am OUTRAGED. As much as I love dead bodies, especially desiccated snake bodies, this is just too much. Live rattlers are absolutely ADORABLE! Those eyes!!! They are hypnotizing. Almost as mesmerizing as salt-water croc eyes. OOooooo yes. Anyhow, I have been hunting for rattlers, for years. Apparently, they live here in Florida. I guess only in the Wal-Mart garden sections, however. People have a habit of shoving hands into plant bushes and are bitten about 7 times a day at the local Wal-Marts here. I just never have had the bravery enough to venture into that kind of wilderness to see one, though, so I keep hoping to find a cute little one, rattling away with shimmering little eyes, out in the sweltering scrub lands with my bush stick and a timid Sir dragged along. He did almost tread upon a coral snake which was quite a find. Not an imitation species, the real thing. What a darling! So HMPH!
-toadie (and a shoved aside Sir)
P.S. A gorgeous mum’s day to you, dear lass. Rattle-snake hugs and kisses! 😉
hehehe NO rattlesnake kisses, Autty. They are not my kids! I have lots of kids and they wouldn’t dare flick a forked venomous tongue at me! Toad hugs and kisses are as reptilian as I go. 🙂 Happy Mother’s Day to you, my charming young lass! 🙂
No, no Rattlesnake kisses for me (Sir back-wrested the machine from the Auttie).
Only Autty would wish one of her adopted mothers rattlesnake kisses for Mother’s Day and not be offensive! I’ll be watching out for you on Father’s Day. If you suddenly quit writing, I’ll know what you got as a present! 🙂
Reblogged this on A Day in the Brine and commented:
Sad account by Sir, conveying an accident on the road involving a family of raccoons. Cheers.
came across this earlier…did not want to ‘like’ it because it is so sad…cannot like sad.
however…it is wonderfully written and well worth a moment to comment.
good day…to you and yours…t
Thanks for commenting anyway on my sad post; it was traumatic going through it.
You showed a soldier’s heart in protecting your daughter.
Blessings ~ Wendy ❀
A tough choice. Glad you liked the post.