You're driving home from a late night out. Your eyelids are starting to feel heavy and all you want to do is curl up in bed. The speed limit is 45, but you push it to 55, there aren't any houses around after all. You're coming down the hill when you start to yawn, and all of a sudden something is ahead of you in the road.

 

 

Now imagine you're an opossum. You're scurrying along through the woods, eating those ticks that give the humans Lyme Disease and munching on berries. It's a warm spring night, and in your pouch are nine baby possums. Caring for the babies is hard work and your stomach is growling. Looking for food, you venture into a clearing. The ground feels funny there, it's hard on your paws, but you continue waddling along. Your eyes start to hurt; something ginormous and bright is blinding you. You can't see it but you can tell it's coming closer and closer and you're scared. You start to scamper and before you know it you're running as fast as you possibly can. You open your little possum mouth, panting for air, and can't resist a glance over your shoulder towards the light. It's the last thing you ever see.

 

 

 

You're the person again. Your eyes grow wide and you slam on your brakes. You clench your jaw tight and with all your might you will the stupid possum to just run a little faster, to get out of the way, but he's hardly power walking any faster than your grandmother. You glance in the rearview mirror to make sure there's not a car behind you, because gas is almost $4 a gallon and a repair bill is the last thing you need right now. THUMP.

There was no car behind you, thankfully. You shudder and continue driving, too scared to look back at what you might see. You figure there's nothing you can do now, but you hope it doesn't happen to anyone else. Eventually you fall into bed and put the whole bad night behind you.

 

 

The thing is, it does happen to someone else. It happens all the time. These marvelous, innocent creatures - who eat our pests, clean up beneath our fruit trees, and protect us from disease-bearing insects - they are carelessly murdered almost every night. They travel in the night, they're small and hard to spot, and their max speed is 4 mph.

 

 

Maybe you remember the location this all occurred, and next time you drive a little slower. Maybe you tell your friends, and they drive a little slower too. But how many accidents will it take before everyone starts to slow down? How many opossums have to die?

What if there was something you could do? What if there was a sign? You see the sign, and you remember how cute your neighborhood opossums are. You know that they are a vital part of the ecosystem, and you value them, so you slow down. This little guy opens his eyes and the big bright car is still, and he gets to finish scampering across the road. He goes on to live a long, lovely possum life.

 

 

We are entering breeding season for opossums, and now is the time to TAKE ACTION! The forested region along Hickory Creek in southwest St. Joseph Charter Township is a vital wildlife corridor with an opossum population that deserves protection.

Sign this petition for the installation of (4) SLOW POSSUM XING signs, (2) on South Cleveland Ave. and (2) on Washington Ave., on each respective side of the Hickory Creek wildlife corridor.