Why do I do this, anyway?

I'd like to preface this entry with a few disclaimers:

• I'm "nearly vegetarian" (chicken, eggs, turkey, cheese).
• I'm very careful about driving and have many times put myself in danger to avoid hitting an animal.
• I would NEVER intentionally hit an animal.
• I don't go out every day hoping that an animal has died, but rather with the hope that I find any that have, so that I may document their death.
  

That said, I've received quite a variety of reactions so far regarding this endevor of posting dead animal photos on the net, from "whatever" to "Thats sick and wrong, what is the matter with you". This has caused me to further evaluate my motives for photographing dead animals and posting them on the internet. There are many reasons for doing this, some of them morbid humor, some more benign.

I'd say that the biggest reason is that I have a camera, and I find road kill to be an interesting subject. There are all these animals who have strayed into our roadways for various reasons, to find careless uncaring drivers who couldn't give a shit about animals who stray into their path. There are of course other reasons that animals are hit by cars, a moment of distraction is all it takes. Quite probably there are people who even try to hit the animals they see trying to cross the road.

These animals are going about their daily business of survival, when WHAM! its the end for them. No one really cares, perhaps they see a dead thing on the side of the road and they think "Ewww" or "Poor little doggie" or whatever, but its not a big deal, and the event is soon forgotten. I'd like to think that by taking a photo and writing a little story, there will be some record, even if just a count, of the number and variety of animals that meet DEATH on the road.

Tonight as I drove home, I saw the following deer in the gutter near the Applegate store. I wonder if it was knocked into the gutter by the car that hit it, or if the driver or some passerby moved it there. I wonder how much the driver cared about the life that this deer lead, and how much the driver cared about the damage to their vehicle. I wonder if they were drunk, stoned, or just distracted. I wonder if it was the deer who was at fault. I wonder if this particular deer had propogated prior to its death, and if it had a mate and children who are even now wondering where she is. I wonder how long this carcass will remain by the side of the road, and where it will go when it is removed. I wonder what makes a photo of a dead kitten "worse" than a photo of a dead possum, but I guess that is a subject for a future post.

update 2005-07-06: the deer is gone, glad I stopped for it last night. I've send blogger a support request on the image issue, still no answer.

update 2005-07-06: photos work again, tho i still have no response from support.