Stranger in the Woods

Chapter 1

I am not one to easily believe in the strange and unusual.  I typically wound up just saying that I was a skeptic.  Skeptical about most everything that was out of the scope of what you would probably find reported in the Wall Street Journal.  

I was a reporter when I was younger, still am, but not currently working.  Once a reporter, always a reporter, really.  I tried other lines of work, but still was an occasional writer for the Marysville Gazette. It was a small local paper, but it occupied a nice portion of my time.  It helped to give me a diversion to hold my interests.

Back when I was doing odd stories for the editor of the Gazette, Ronald Green, I remember one cold morning in February, right before Valentine’s Day, when I got a call at home from him.  Ron told me that he wanted me to do a piece on road kill.  I chuckled and accepted the assignment.  I never rejected anything.  He gave me a couple weeks to complete the assignment.  I chuckled again.  Two weeks on road kill.  How lovely I thought.

“Finally sending me on a road assignment.  Ron, you don’t have to give me an assignment if you don’t have one to give.”    

“If you don’t want it I..”

“Oh, no Ron.  I want it.  I love the challenge.  You know that.”  I said.  Even a light-hearted or shallow story I would turn into a challenge.  That was just part of my nature.  Always digging too deep, never satisfied.

“That is why I thought of you.”  He said.  “But it isn’t a throw away assignment.  It really is something I want thoroughly investigated, and well…you are excellent at research.”

“You want me to research road kill?  What’s the angle?”  I asked.

“Well, Frank, there has been a number of deer, skunk, and other wildlife that have been turning up on the highway dead.  More than normal, that is.  I just find it strange and think that there might be some kind of story there.  I was talking with a friend over at DOT and he said that it's beginning to become a real safety concern.  Especially with the number of road kill being found recently.  It’s rather alarming.”

I sat down and began to jot down some of Ron’s comments.  Deer.  Skunk.  Road kill.  DOT.  Increase in levels.  It was beginning to sound like it might actually be an interesting story.  I enjoy intrigue and the chance to strike at the solid root of a mystery.  

“What kind of increase of road kill are you talking about?” I asked.

“Well, honestly, it started with Judge Campbell commenting the other day about how he has been seeing a lot more deer on the roadsides lately.  He lives out at the edge of the county line, you know, and has to drive through the valley.  He said that out there is the most deer he’s seen on the roadside than he ever remembers.  And you know how reliable Judge is, so I walked over to ask George Powell who works for the county about it.  You know, to get his take on it all.  See if it was just perception or perhaps there was something to it.”

“What’d he say?  I assume he said there was something to it.”  I said as I continued to jot down more notes.

“George did say that there was an increase in road kill reports.  Usually, when they go out they get the carcass and that is it.  But recently, oh, perhaps in the last few weeks he said that they get out there and there isn’t just one dead deer, but there are three or maybe four, and that’s not all.  They find a few skunks and maybe some other animals.  A rabbit or something.”  Ron said.

“All this right where the original reported carcass is at?”

“No, not right there, but all within a few miles of it.    It’s not like they are being shot or anything.  They are being hit by cars or trucks.  You know those logging trucks travel on that road a lot and they aren’t going to report every animal they hit.  Especially the small ones. Anyway, I want you to check it out.  Maybe it’s the logging?”

“Yeah.  Perhaps the woods being cut down are forcing the animals to migrate to other parts of the forest and leading them across the highway.”  I said.

When I got off the phone my intrigue had been dulled a bit.  Logging, that was the answer.  It was a habitat thing.  My mind immediately started to think of rational explanations that I could pull into the story to round it out.  Logging industry, cutting down trees, habitat violated.  I thought about groups I could call.  Unions, conservation agencies, the perhaps a college professor for a quote.  Even though the actual story would be nothing out of the ordinary, the conflict that this article could draw upon could make it rather compelling.  This could be a good use of my time after all.