A New Use For Those BBQ Tongs

I have wildlife/nonwildlife rescue paraphernalia in my car. A large box with airholes, a small one, a towel or two, a leash, soapy handwipes, you get the idea. I've decided to add the enormous barbecue/barbeque tongs that are collecting dust in the garage (the smaller ones that we use for veggies on the counter-grill still see some action). Why? Because of what happened today, which has happened to me a half dozen times in the past year. I can't do anything about the times it happens when I'm going for a run or walk, but I can do something about the times it happens when I'm in the car.

In case you haven't guessed, it is the relocation of a fresh (or not) carcass, usually with entrails spilling out, to a place more hospitable for the buzzards and hawks who evidently at least in South Florida do not judge the speed of oncoming traffic very well. There's nothing worse than one dead animal being partially responsible for the death of one live animal.

I tweeted about a similar incident about a month ago and someone replied that she was glad there was someone fighting for the safe-dining rights of hawks. I don't know if she was being sarcastic, but in my town I see dead armadillos, opossums, raccoons, all manner of turtles, and squirrels dead in the middle of the road frequently. At least they're dead and it wasn't my fault, but I still have a responsibility.

I've never seen a dead dog in the road but I have seen cats and I always check for a tag, then call Animal Care and Control (or a local shelter) if I can't take the animal myself and have her scanned for a microchip. As someone whose cat (technically my sister's cat) disappeared when we were kids, I know the pain of wondering what has happened. There's no excuse to not at least report the dead animal in case she was someone's "pet" and there's a little girl crying herself to sleep, her mind wandering in all kinds of horrible directions, desperately missing her kitty.

Furthermore, if the animal in the road is fresh and it's easily determined that she is a nursing female, there could be babies close by and scanning the area for little ones unable to care for themselves isn't a bad idea. (And having the numbers of a couple of wildlife rehabbers programmed into your phone is helpful.)

If you've handled fresh carcasses that are open and, shall we say, leaking, you know what a messy, smelly, and surprisingly heavy endeavor it can be. And how difficult it is to get the stench off of you. Depending on where you're going and what you're wearing, you might thank me for what seemed at first like a silly suggestion.

So put those old BBQ tongs in the car (I'm adding that huge spatula, too) and make it easier relocate dead animals to a place where scavengers and vultures of all kinds can eat without being in mortal danger.