We’ve all seen it — trash, torn or freshly fallen — strewn in the road. It doesn’t make the prettiest village any prettier and it doesn’t do wild animals or strays any favors, either.

Birds and wandering animals look for food. That’s their thing. So if there’s food or the hope of it in the road, they are drawn to it as they seek to stay alive or be strong enough to feed their young, or take food back to their young.

In one of our last snowstorms, I was heading into town on Route 218, amid poor daytime visibility, and saw an entirely white dog in the fast-falling snow, in the road, nosing into what looked like a fast food-sized bag. I stopped, beeped the horn until the dog left the road, then I beeped some more until it continued up a driveway.

I flashed the headlights at the next few vehicles I passed going the other way, in hopes fellow drivers would keep an eye out in case the dog returned to the road.

If conditions were safer, I would have pulled over and gotten the bag from the road. I help turtles across the road, too.

I don’t know why so much of the trash in roads looks like fast food. When I get fast food or takeout, I don’t throw the trash – much of which is recyclable, by the way – out the car window. Who are these people? If it’s you, making the choice to stop the practice would be a step toward a better you, as we all hopefully try to be every day. It’s a journey that has no end. Let’s try to reduce the roadkill.