Author notes

081. Carrion Caravan

usedbooks

on May 16, 2010

Inspired by actual events. Near where I work, the vultures are plentiful and always picking at one carcass or another. Last week, my brother and I were headed that way, and the vultures didn't fly away – they rarely do until you're almost on top of them. We had to swerve to get around them. They are HUGE birds too, so they could damage a car. We laughed at the sheer stupidity of it all and came up with this imagery. (The vultures we saw were black vultures, but the coloring didn't work well for this strip.)

On a serious note, roadkill is often caused by littering. Trash on the road is an attractive find to scavengers such as possums and foxes. And roadkill attracts more scavengers. While birds usually fly away, mammals and reptiles are not so fortunate. Possums have the worst luck of all because they reflexively go into a catatonic state when threatened whether by a predator or a vehicle.

So, in short, please don't litter, and drive carefully.