My day at the office begins at 5 a.m. a few of days a week and since I live about 30 minutes away, I'm out of the house well before dawn.

I often see animals on the secondary roads I take into Portland but this morning it was like wildlife central. Luckily I avoided hitting anything (well, everything that wasn't already dead).

Mile 1: A possom scuttling across the road.

Mile 3: A dead skunk I smelled long before I actually saw it.

Mile 8: A slow moving racoon that crossed the road and required a quick stop to avoid hitting.

Mile 9: A deer that lept about 20 feet in front of my car before running into the woods.

Mile 13: Another freshly dead skunk with a potent aroma.

Mile 15: A racoon walking along the dirt shoulder.

My nerves were a little frayed by the time I got to work in my attempts to avoid killing anything or getting into an accident. The kids of course we disappointed they missed it all when I told them about it.

Have others see a lot of roadside wildlife lately? Must be the seasons changing.