I Returned To Gateway Park Today & Mountain Biked To A Fort Worth Murder Scene

I was more than just a little unsettled to come upon a brutal murder scene today in Gateway Park.

A likely psychopath shot and killed the armadillo you see in the picture.

I saw multiple gunshot wounds. Doing a forensic examination of the crime scene I was able to determine that the armadillo was first shot about 20 feet from where it died. I made this determination due to a pool of blood, with a trickle of blood leading to the final resting place.

At what time of the day would anyone feel free enough from prying eyes to feel like they could discharge a firearm in a Fort Worth city park and murder an armadillo?

The armadillo is the Official State Small Mammal of Texas. Is murdering one of the Official State Small Mammals of Texas a capital offense in this state? If not, I really think it should be.

The animal kingdom in Gateway Park was acting odd today. Maybe in reaction to the armadillo murder. I saw only one squirrel acting squirrelly. Usually it is dozens of squirrels acting squirrelly.

Previously I'd not seen a lizard in Gateway Park. Today I saw at least a half dozen, all of whom were acting squirrelly. As I pedaled towards the lizards they'd be looking away from the trail, and then right before I reached it, the lizard would turn around and run across the trail right in front of me, forcing a brake application. Over and over again, like the cute reptiles had a death wish.

The lizard behavior was unsettling. Not as unsettling as the murdered armadillo, though.

It was a good thing to be back on my bike again, after having totally recovered from the bout of soreness that had had me cutting back on doing much of anything that was too physically stimulating, which pretty much left me with walking, swimming and doing yoga, while I recovered.

Mountain biking, when the temperature nears 100, is totally doable. Between the shade and the cooling self generated air movement, one keeps almost cool. Until one stops.

Currently the outer world at my location is heated to 105, while really feeling like 111. We have a couple hours to go before the air starts to cool down. I suspect a temperature record is going to be set today.