Ive had a rather wildlife-challenged weekend. Friday night, going home from the Iowa City Jazz Fest, I was navigating backroads, about 12:30AM, when a deer bounded from a deep ditch. With all the flooding going on, deer on the move a lot right now...trying to stay out of human contact a little...but mainly trying to stay dry and safe with small fawns in tow. I saw no fawn...but the deer...upon landing in the middle of the road and starting to cross over into my side...decided instead...to stop...and turn around. Maybe? I was already adjusting my path into the left lane to get around him safely...as he crossed the right lane. But that is only a good maneuver...if...the deer actually decides...to cross the right lane. Im guessing this might have been a young deer...uncertain of his/her capacity to leap cars in a single bound...and in its hesitation...he created a bit of a dilemma. Time was quickly running out for me to maneuver around the confused animal...safely. Quickly...very quickly...the confusion was going to end up with both of us suffering some damage. S/he had just turned around again to cross the right side of the road...where I had originally been happily driving...when my right front fender and light assembly smacked the rear-end of the deer. All very quick...all very disappointing. I have roll-up lights that roll-out of the design lines of the front assembly when you turn on the lights. The situational confidence issues of the deer resulted in my headlight no longer rolling up...or down. It just sort of sits there...looking at the ground a little too quickly. The fender...a bit crinkled in. The passenger door...a little crinkled in. Maybe a thousand dollars of damage...maybe a little more. What can ya do...but shake yer head and laugh. I wasnt hurt. Engine wasnt hurt. A deer didnt come flying up my hood into my windshield. Not too bad. Sure...who likes getting a car fixed...but all in all..its a thing requiring constant vigilance...with no guarantee...the deer wont change their mind...and their direction. So this morning...I get to the warehouse bright and early...wanted to get a bunch of things done at the building related to the water issues earlier in the week. Im on the phone, and I suddenly become aware I am listening to a bunch of noise that far exceeds the noise the birds make when theyre chasing bugs and seeds in the rain gutters. It had some intentionality to it almost...like someone was trying to break through the back wall of the building. At first...Im trying not to pay attention...and simply focus on the phone call...but the noise just kept on. No voices heard, no barking dogs...no vehicles or anything I could make out. Just once in a while...challenging noise thats leaving me a little unsettled. It stops after a few minutes...and again...no further sound of an animal or human or vehicle. Weird...very weird. On the computer...doing email...the noise comes to my ears again. I try to ignore it...but finally I get up to go check. Other end of the building from the office, there are some venting configurations, from the floor, that were used to try to vent composite dust when the building owner first made an effort to create a manufacturing facility with the building. There had been two holes cut in the back wall to allow the vents...to vent outside. It sounded as if the noise was from that area. I walk back and check on the west end of the configuration...then the middle...checking to see if some animal had found its way in by ripping apart the repair. I turn around from looking on both ends of the middle...and start to walk, but look down to not step in a pile of the composites that was at my feet. But it wasnt composites. It was a 2 ft. long alligator snapping turtle!!! The shell was better than 15 across! WHAT THE HELL?!!! I was just a tad startled. I backed away from it...having walked up to its tail-end, and just watched it...to see what was its plan. I got on the phone...started calling friends to come help me move it. Dont want to play with a good size snapper without having witnesses...in case it latches on a finger or nose or something. The turtle...just sat there. For 1.5 hours...didnt move! No idea whats in its head...or why or how it got in the building. Walked around the back perimeter...no sign of damage to repairs...and no sign of entry. Somehow...it got in the building. Somehow. Very unclear. Friend gets there, we place the turtle in an Omaha Steaks box, which is styrofoam. He drove upon his golf-cart...so we take that with the Omaha box ready to explode...from the disgusting smell of the turtle...and drive it down the several hundred yards...just across a bridge to the other side of the creek west of the building. We roll the turtle out of the box (tight fit...didnt want to meet those claws again soon. Now hes sitting on the edge of the road...a gravel road...but I hate leaving it there. Too many young guys with pickups...traveling around with...young guys. So instead...I acted as conductor, and gently pushed the critter wed come to love and cherish, into some steps, dug out by hand, to help people get down to the boats, where...as soon as his feet touched mud...he whipped around and took off running to the creek. He reached the bottom of the embankment...and took off on path...able to just hone in on the creek....all swollen and looking very different than it had a few days ago. First turtle Ive ever encountered in someones office.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 02:13:13 +0000
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