Eye Shine

     One evening last week here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, I was driving home along dark, lonely roads in local farmland.  Ahead I saw small lights blinking close to the ground on the side of the road I was driving on.  I slowed my car and aimed it toward those lights.  Suddenly, two raccoons shuffled quickly across the rural road and into a still-standing, sheltering corn field.  I knew they were coons by their posture and dark-ringed tails.  I drove by and continued on.  But it was a thrill to see those 'coons with my headlights.
     I have seen many mammals at night along streets and roads over the years.  And it's always a thrill to spot them no matter how many were noted before.  There is one vital clue to seeing mammals along the byways before you get to them-eye shine.
     Tiny lights along roads at night could be some kind of nocturnal mammal along the edges of those roads, including raccoons, red foxes opossums, striped skunks, white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits or some other creature.  These are mammals most likely to be seen at night along roadways in Lancaster County through the year.  They are abundant species and adapted to farmland and suburban areas.  Some individuals of each kind are killed by vehicles on those roads because they are slow, blinded by head lights, young animals too innocent to know the dangers of traffic, or just haven't adapted to fast-moving vehicles.  It's always well to drive slowly when eye shine is spotted, for the safety of the animals, and motorists.
     These animals, young and older, are moving around under the cover of darkness in search of food or mates.  They wander over the black top when there is no traffic, but, suddenly, a vehicle rapidly comes upon them.  Often they have no time to react to the danger.  But these mammals along country roads and suburban streets indicate what kinds of them live in given areas and, perhaps, how abundantly.  Obviously, the more critters of a kind noted, probably the more common that species is.
     But for me, I enjoy seeing mammals' eye shine and the creatures themselves in the lights of my car.  I can acknowledge what species live in any given place and it's just exciting to spot them, often suddenly, "out of the blue".  One must always be ready when looking for mammals at night. 
     I have often gone out at night by vehicle with a million-candle spotlight in Lancaster County to look for nocturnal mammals.  What mammals are spotted depends on what habitat you're driving through.  All these critters are most likely noted along hedgerows between fields and along the edges of woodlands where they border cropland.  Those places have more food in them.  But these adaptable mammals could be in any local habitat. 
     Raccoons, 'possums and skunks that seem to bumble along can be surprisingly fast when they have to be.  Deer often seem unconcerned, continuing to feed when spotlights are on them.  Cottontails might sit still, relying on camouflage, or run for cover.
     It's surprising how many wild mammals can be spotted in vehicle headlights or in the beams of spotlights when they are sought at night in Lancaster County, as elsewhere.  And it is exciting when they are found going about their nightly business!  Watch for mammal eye shine as you drive along at night.  And let that shine be a warning of potential danger ahead.