First Sign of Spring

I live in Indiana but this week I am wandering around Alabama visiting family. While here, I got to see the first visible, most reliable sign that spring is almost upon us, a dead skunk in the road. I know it sounds like some kind of practical joke in the making, but it's the truth. I had heard this when I was younger from my father and grandfather but my only thought then was "thank goodness, I am tired of winter". Being older now, I have noticed that after seeing the skunk roadkill it's only a few weeks until we get some seriously warmer weather. It's worked in Alabama and Indiana both.

I was going to write that when the skunk comes out of hibernation, it's still groggy and staggers into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Being cautious, and a bit curious, I wondered if skunks really hibernated. It turns out, they don't hibernate at all. They go into a state called torpor where they just lay around and sleep most of the time. Actually that sounds a lot like me in the winter.

Merriam-Webster defines torpor as

a : a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility
b : a state of lowered physiological activity typically characterized by reduced metabolism, heart rate, respiration, and body temperature that occurs in varying degrees especially in hibernating and estivating animals

So I was could be partially right, instead of being in hibernation the skunks were in torpor. So then the skunks come out of torpor they're still groggy and stagger into the path of oncoming vehicles. But I have to tell you, definition a: really describes some people I've met in my life.

Anyway, wherever you live, when you see that first skunk roadkill you can think "thank goodness, I'm tired of winter". If you're like me you tend to slow down some in the winter with you own form of torpor. When the first warm days get to you and you feel it's time to get out of the house, be careful crossing the road, I know I will.