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| A living crow friend
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I started this day cradling a dying paralyzed crow in my arms. As I headed back to Grand Teton National Park early this morning, on a 55mph highway that everyone flies on, I saw three crows pecking at something invisible on the road. This spot is a large aspen grove bisected by the highway. As I drove towards the birds, a fast moving large RV was headed in the opposite direction. I let off the throttle to allow the birds to fly up and across to no avail. In slow motion I watched as the three flew up and into the windshield of the RV; birds being thrown everywhere. The RV must have assumed that the birds would move; I never assume this. Two of the birds flew off nicked, but alive and unhurt. As I watched in horror in my side view mirror I saw that one had fallen into the lane behind me.
I noticed that the crow sat up so I decided to turn around. In the meantime, two more cars had driven over/past the crow. As I pulled over, I realized that the crow was now lying on its back, still breathing. I jumped out of my truck, ran across the road, and gently scooped the crow up into my arms. The crow did not fight, it's neck limp, apparently broken. As I cradled the injured bird it watched me with its eyes, no struggling, only labored breathing.
I moved to the side of my truck and sat down in the grassy shoulder along the edge of the aspen grove. Talking softly to the crow I apologized for not being able to do anything. I called upon divine guidance from the Universe to move through my helplessness. I couldn't stop crying; a teardrop fell upon its soft feathers. The crow could only blink, no ability to move. I could hear the other two crows calling from across the road in the other half of the aspen grove. I gently laid its still breathing body down at the base of a large aspen tree to let its mates come comfort and mourn its passing, as crows are known to do. As I left the area, I noticed an older flattened crow carcass along the shoulder just a few feet from where this incredible life was taken. Ever since this painful incident i have felt so much closer to crows and they seem less fearful of me- rarely flying when I walk past them.
All that RV had to do was lift off the gas pedal a bit to give the birds time to move. I would love to put out small signs in the form of birds, deer, coyotes, raccoons, etc. to mark where each has died as the result of a vehicle. Just like the crosses people put along the road where people have died in a vehicle accident. Imagine how many critter signs there would be along our roads. Maybe then people would slow down and pay more attention along the roads. I have run over critters, too and hit birds however, this can be minimized by looking for them along roads and again, lifting your foot off the gas pedal to allow that bird to live. You'll feel better for it.
1 comment:
What a sad but moving post. Thank you for writing this. I couldn't agree more. So many road deaths of wildlife could be prevented if people anticipated just a little bit. I see people barreling toward birds all of the time, and I sometimes see the devastating outcome as you did. I always stop, even if the person who hit the animal did not. I've read a few reports which suggest that even a few simple measures can dramatically reduce the chances of hitting wildlife: going the speed limit on country roads (or under, if no one is behind you); constantly scanning the road sides for anomalies, shapes, eyes; and, as you say, just slowing down when you actually see an animal in the road. We've been in situations where we see a doe crossing the road and after she passes, no one slows down. So often another deer is right behind, in the spring, often fawns. When we see this we stop and flash our lights at opposing traffic so they'll at least be aware that fawns may be crossing next. But, again, I just wish people would be more conscious of their power behind the wheel, both the power to drive with more compassion and also the power to do great harm.
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