They're Everywhere!

The wildlife recently, has been extremely close to the city, and within the city. I've seen two deer, on two different occasions this week. First was near my shop out in Irvington. That's close enough to rural community that you might expect to see deer from time to time. The second was on the exit ramp from I80 at 42nd St. That poor thing is probably road kill by now. Plus, I've seen wild turkey twice this week. One lone tom walking along I680 around Fort St., and then at 120th St., between State St. and Military Rd. there were five at the road's edge. I have seen more turkey in the last five years than I've seen my previous 38 years. As a kid, I may not have paid as much attention to my surroundings, but you think I would have seen a couple growing up in Nebraska. When I was a teenager, I used to hunt with friends and relatives, and I don't recall ever seeing a single turkey. Trust me, I would have unloaded on one with probably nothing to show but a bunch of empty shells. Which brings me to my next species eyewitness sighting. I had a pheasant fly directly in front of my truck a couple of months ago. My guess is about twelve feet or less between my windshield and him. I'm positive it was a "him". And I hear one all the time in the field behind our shop, which happens to be a dairy farm. And to top it off, I was on my way home from work Friday evening, driving through the new Aksarben Village area, and a skunk starts to run into the street, but at the last minute, saw his life flash before his eyes, and changed his mind. I'm just guessing it was a "him". I've never seen a skunk that far into the city. Must be here on vacation. I almost feel as if I'm in an episode of WILD KINGDOM, with Marlin Perkins. I'm his sidekick, Jim, who almost gets eaten by sharks, alligators, piranhas, or some man eating African ants. I feel the wildlife is closing in and making me enjoy the variety of species in the animal kingdom. Can't they just go back to being on TV, and leave me be? Can't they just show up at the grocery store, already prepackaged? Why do they have to run/fly in front of my truck, and risk death? Can't they just take a lesson from the flattened squirrel who didn't quite make it? Where's Marlon when you need him?