When in my teens I found a very emaciated muskrat wandering near our home on the Fox River in Illinois. It was obvious the little fellow was starving, what wasn’t so obvious was, Why?

The wee wildling didn’t struggle as I gently begin to handle and examine it. Poking and prodding I searched for some obvious injury. Failing in this I gently opened its mouth and there finally discovered the problem.
My little friend had found a shiny, twenty-two cartridge case. Curious, perhaps playing with it, the thing had slipped over an incisor and had wedged there, rendering him incapable of eating.

I gently removed the cartridge case and took him home until three or four days later, well fed I was able to release him into his home territory.

He waddled away to vanish beneath the surface of the river, a happier and hopefully wiser young muskrat.
Years later while hiking I heard a strange noise in the woods. Looking around I discovered a striped skunk that had wedged its head inside an empty bean can. What I had heard was this little stinker blundering through the trees and underbrush, bumping into trees and generally having a difficult time of it.

I threw caution to the winds, grabbed the can and snatched it from skunky’s head. I imagine I would get sprayed today being considerably older and somewhat slower.

I have found ducks entangled in plastic beverage can binders, always dead.

In the keys one time I discovered a pelican entangled in monofiliment fishing line. It died in my arms as I was removing the line and on Sanibel I found the rotting remains of a great blue heron that had met the same sad end as the pelican.

What I have recounted here is almost a litany to the carelessness of civilization.

The latest victim hangs from a microwave tower not far from my home. A black headed vulture became entangled in some sort of cord. It hangs there still, silent and dead, moving slightly in the wind way up there, a mute banner to man’s gross indifference to nature.

Following are my, SEVEN, EIGHT DEADLY SELF LIES FOR LITTERING.

#1, “Shucks, it aint hurting anybody! (Littering is a victimless crime.)

#2, “I litter because I hate to have the trash in my car!”

#3, “The highway dept. will clean it up!”

#4, “Hey, it don’t amount to nothing, it’s only a tin can!”

#5, “Everybody else does it!”

#6, “It’s biodegradable so it will rot away!”

#7, “Throwing trash alongside the road means job security for some poor slob so I am performing a public service!”

#8, “It’s not really trash. I’m feeding the animals.” (Contributed by Cherylp)

If you heard any other self lies for littering please pass them on in a comment,

You have a nice day now ya hear,

The River Rat

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