Blossoms and Roadkill

Steph and I are in Traverse City for the weekend. It's a lot greener here than it is in Marquette, and the trees — the cherries, tulip magnolias, redbuds, forsythias, birches, and so on — are all in bloom. Despite the spitting snow and cold rain, it's quite colorful, and a nice respite from the still-chilly springtime of the Upper Peninsula.

We saw plenty of roadkilled animals on our drive downstate, but have thus far photographed just one — a young doe hit along a country road, where traffic travels awfully fast. The rain had just let up, leaving the carcass damp and speckled with waterdrops.

 

The doe's neck was bent into a graceful curl; she had been dead for some time, and much of her body had been consumed by scavengers. Her last meal had been corn — the kernels had sprayed from her mouth upon impact.

With the return of spring, the turkey vultures have also returned, meaning this deer won't be around for much longer.