After many months of plain bone-idleness brought on by the incredible contributions of Jezza&Droid, as well as our loyal readers, we found our own store of tasty roadkill treats had been exhausted. In a noble effort to replenish our stocks we headed out to a popular tourist destination, Cape Breton Island, about 4 hours away from Collideascope World Headquarters.
So, well into August we packed up the motorcycle and
a couple cars and headed north-east to the highlands (That's me
and Stevo on the bike, somewhere in the woods).
The first section of the trip took us over the highway from Halifax to Truro, usually a great route for racoon, porcupine, and skunk kills. Unfortunately, not a one did we see. After 100km of driving we had nothing to show for our efforts except sore arses.
The next stage took us along the Trans-Canada highway to the Canso causeway, but once again we were foiled! Over 200km of usually prime carnage and all we found were dozens of shredded transport truck tires. Nothing organic to be seen!
Then, the causeway itself. In past times I have witnessed this roadway literally covered with seabird carcasses. The result of ill considered games of chicken played with passing motorists and trucks. It is probably one of the best places on earth for waterfowl roadkill, with almost every North Atlantic species represented. I have seen herring gulls, shearwaters, albatrosses, cormorants and any number of other birds squashed to a pulp on this watery way, but not this trip. Not even one squashed seagull.
We were so disappointed that we camped out that
night, roasted up some steaks and got thoroughly soused on
Ten-Penny and dark rum. Come the next day we were still pretty
down so we made tracks to the local distillery where we did not
get to drink any whiskey, but we did try out the top cut from the
distillation tower. Not bad, but not roadkill either.
We continued on our roadkill quest, heading north to the Cabot Trail where deer and moose are often sighted. We had the vague hope of seeing some moose kill but once again it was not to be. No squirrels, no 'coons, nor porcupines, no pets, no moose.
As a matter of
fact the only dead animals we saw were in the National Park at
Chetticamp where we ran into skippy (on the left ) and our friend
the wise old owl (on the right ) both stuffed and mounted under
glass in the interpretative centre.
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Then it was back to the campsite for another feed
and BEvERages. Then up early the next morning for a nourishing
breakfast of cold steak and Ten-Penny; the real breakfast of
champions. On the left you see Stevo relaxing after breakfast.
None of us showered for the entire three days, and, while you
can't see them in this picture, his head is surrounded by flies (
Not that it usually isn't -ed.).
Finally it was back on the road to good 'ol Halifax. Another 5 hours of driving, and still no kill. It was incredible, like, every animal in Nova Scotia had gotten the word to head for the deep woods.
Then, at last, on the home stretch we finally came across our quarry. Here is M-A posing with an unfortunate house-hold animal we nicknamed "fluffy". Enjoy!
M-A and "Fluffy" on the Trans-Canada, near
Antigonish.
That wraps up our trip report for this issue. Hopefully we will be more successful next time. Meanwhile, we are starting to look into the field of urban roadkill; at bit trickier because it gets cleaned up fast, but still rewarding (see our new multi-media section ).
Till next time,
-Alman
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