Roadkill

Are there more critters in Montana or are these animals just stupider than elsewhere?

I'm not sure what it is but I've killed or almost killed more animals in the past couple months than I have since I first got my license. Here's a rundown.

Deer: Luckily there have been no collisions but I almost ran into a few of these guys on my home from Glacier a couple weeks ago. It's a little frightening when you're barreling down the freeway at 85 miles per hour and you suddenly see animals in the roadway. I braked....hard. Which, I found out last week, is the right thing to do. Apparently most drivers instinctually swerve which is bad....or so I've been told.

Ground squirrels: These little cannibals are everywhere in Montana. They're idiots too. I ran over many when I worked in Glacier and I saw plenty more smashed into the roadway. I guess Bozeman's no different. I was driving home the other day and a doofy little ground squirrel came trotting out onto the road. I grimaced and drove right over him. I mean that literally. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the dumb little bastard standing up on his hind legs like, "what the hell just happened?"

Birds: What the hell? The only animal on earth that can FLY and I've hit 3 in the past couple weeks. In one case a couple of blue jays were fighting in mid-air. One of them decided to quickly back off but ended up too low...and smacked into my windshield.

Snake: This one's a little different in that a) I don't know if it's dead and b) I ran over him on my bike. It scared the crap out of me though. It was probably a little garter snake but he hissed like hell as my tires ran over his tail.