The Possum
Every time I see one dead on the side of road I think about how fucking unfair that is. We humans drive around in our metal boxes and smash them, and have the nerve to call them "road kill." But they are warm, complex, fantastic creatures that have just as much right to be here as we do.
Like the toads, I've also enjoyed finding possums on occasion during our hikes. They are highly intelligent and great mothers to their young.
One evening my lady friend and I were driving on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We passed a possum that had just been hit and was dying in the road. My female companion urged me to rescue it. We were on a busy highway, it was dark, and I got a real high putting my life at risk for this animal.
As I picked her up, the last of her life left her. To feel something dying in your arms has a life-changing effect. I set her down in a ditch on the side of the road. She was gone. I cried. But I also felt very alive. She didn't die alone, and she didn't have to get hit by any more cars.
It is outrageous to me how we mindlessly kill the possums and millions of other animals that we share the earth with. Humans are more concerned about economics, what's easy, what's fast, and what is convenient. We don't factor in the animals in our decisions. In fact, we disrespect and dishonor them every day, from the way we eat them to they way our developments, pollution, vehicles, and reckless behaviors ruthlessly destroys them.
People suck.
If we are not willing to save one another, and if we are not willing to save our planet, we should at least protect our co-inhabitants. They are innocent and don't deserve to die from our ignorance and callousness. A key part of this would be to stop global climate change, which we could easily do if we made a serious effort.
