Resting Place

While riding my bike on an evening blip excursion, I came across a dead raccoon on the edge of a busy street by the cemetery. Someone had placed a flower next to the body, which was some hours dead, attacked by many flies but only at the beginning stages of stink. An Asian immigrant passed by with a child as I was taking pictures, and she asked if it was a dog. I suppose there are no raccoons in her country. I had a cloth tote bag in my basket, so I gathered the creature up and pedaled over to a large, tree-covered traffic island not far away. I left the creature as you see it here, away from human eyes, with a few leaves for the sake of improvised decorum.

Raccoons are common in Philadelphia, but they're nocturnal and for various reasons are more common in some vicinities than in others. I rarely see any, but nearby streets are teeming with them.

I was about to post the earlier image, with flies, on the pavement --more clearly raccoon --but for some reason I thought I wouldn't.