ROAD KILL
AS I RIDE AROUND IN THE COUNTRY ON MY MOTORCYCLES I AM SEEING A LOT MORE DEAD ANIMALS THIS YEAR. MAYBE BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD A WET LAST COUPLE OF YEARS OR SOMETHING. I WILL BE POSTING IMAGES OF WHAT I RUN ACROSS FROM NOW ON. I WON'T POST DOMESTIC PETS OUT OF RESPECT TO THE OWNERS. I RIDE THROUGH A LOT OF TIMBER RATTLER HABITAT BUT HAVE YET TO SEE ANY. THE LAST ONE I ENCOUNTERED WAS IN 1974. LOTS OF SNAPPING TURTLES, PROBABLY FEMALES MOVING TO EGG LAYING LOCATIONS.
06-17-08 06-19-08

06-21-08
STRIPED SKUNK (Mephitis mephitis)
LORING DRIVE, ABOUT 3 MILES WEST OF BONNER SPRINGS, KANSAS.
 POSSUM (Didelphis marsupialis)
NEAR STILLWELL, KANSAS.
 BLACK SNAKE (Elaphe obsoleta)
OAK GROVE ROAD, KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.
     

A Duchesne County man died of hantavirus, the first confirmed case in Utah since 2004.
Public health authorities say the 28-year-old man died Sept. 3, a day after he checked into a hospital. People typically get infected while sweeping up rodent droppings without a mask, and the Utah Department of Health attributed the man's death to that activity.  The next time you decide to kill a snake remember that they eat rodents and can enter a rodent den to devour the young also.

   
08-16-08 09-22-08 07-12-09
MOLE
158TH STREET NEAR DESOTO, KANSAS.
 OSAGE COPPERHEAD
ON K-32 NEAR THE WEST END OF BONNER SPRINGS, KANSAS.		 TIMBER RATTLER
LOCATED ABOUT 1 MILE SOUTH OF 83RD STREET ON WOODLAND DRIVE

WHAT A SHAME TO SEE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SNAKE RAN OVER. IN THE KANSAS CITY AREA TIMBER RATTLERS ARE USUALLY FOUND NEAR LIMESTONE OUTCROPPINGS AND ARE RARELY ENCOUNTERED BY HUMANS BECAUSE OF THEIR RECLUSIVE NATURE. HABITAT IS BEING DESTROYED BY MAN'S ENCROACHMENT AND THEY ARE FORCED TO CROSS ROADS WHILE IN BREEDING MODE AND SEARCHING FOR FOOD. NOW ON THE FEDERALLY PROTECTED LIST THEY HAVE SOME PROTECTION BUT WITHOUT ENFORCEMENT THEY WILL ONE DAY DISAPPEAR.