The Game

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Before you answer that, I have another.

Why did the skunk cross the road?
To stink up the road?

There are tons of dead skunks on the road sides right now.  More than any other animal at this time of year.  What is going on? About five seconds after passing the carcass the unique smell invades my car.  Just as fresh air starts to enter my nostrils, I pass another dead skunk.  What is it about pavement that draws skunks in from the forest?

I started thinking that maybe there is some sort of game in the animal kingdom.  They challenge themselves to play some type of Frogger. Which species can cross the road more times than the others?

What about those small birds that fly about two feet off the ground.  They zip right in front of cars.  I saw one get hit and I thought.  "You are a damn bird.  Why wouldn't you fly twenty feet in the air and avoid this."   It's because of the game!

Deer play the game as well.  We all know that.  Deer prefer the added challenge of hiding in the darkness when the sun goes down.  They just hang out on the side of the road waiting for a truck to come by before making a mad dash to the other side.

Squirrels like to go half way before getting scared and confused.  Then they just run back and forth in the middle of the road daring you to kill them.  I imagine their little squirrel friends sitting on the side of the road encouraging them to keep going before my tire squishes them into the pavement.  

Not all animals play this game of crossing the road.  Have you ever seen a wild pig hit in the middle of the road? How about a porcupine?  Monkey?  Have you ever seen a monkey in the middle of the road begging to be hit by a car?  Maybe even chewing on a banana waiting for you to get close enough.

I think we haven't seen too many monkey's on the road because they can't handle the smell the skunks left behind.