.

             Jeff chose not to inform the sheriff that he had chased the fleeing creature a good quarter mile before catching up with it. Richard took one look at the ruined dripping grill and the next day Sussex County's newest employee had his cow catcher. .

             Tonight the cow catcher had surely done its work. The truck had caught its target dead center without Jeff's hitting the brake, and the pickup sent it flying. The animal came down on Highway 96 like a sack of laundry, thumped a few yards, and came to rest along the soft shoulder about a hundred feet from where it had been struck. Jeff had to practically stand on the brake to avoid hitting it again, and as he swerved the rear of the truck dove-tailed into the muddy trench along the side of the road. .

             Jeff cut the engine and laughed a squeaky cackle. "Goddamn, that was close! If it'd been a snake, it'd bit him," he said. From behind the wheel he examined the dark lump that lay motionless near the front tire. He took his high beam flashlight from the glove compartment and flashed it on the creature, but it remained still. Slowly he stepped from the truck. The animal's dark fur had matted on the side where it had been struck and it lay in a gradually expanding pool of blood. Jeff still could not make out exactly what he had hit, and the animal's thick fur made it impossible to tell its front from its hind quarters. Jeff extended his leg and prodded the fur with the toe of his boot, holding the flashlight's beam steady on it, but he could not even locate a face beneath the fur. The creature did not move. .

             He turned to the truck and pulled out the large shovel from the cab. He slid it under the carcass, leaving a path of blood as he dragged the shovel back to the pickup. Getting the heavy animal into the back of the truck was no problem. The Mayor had added a lift to the pickup because it made the job more convenient. .

             He kept the heavily bleeding creature separate from the two dead dogs and six road kill racoons and rabbits in the back of the pickup.