We’re sure the dead raccoon didn’t mind as he was no longer of this world by the time a road crew in Pennsylvania painted a yellow line over him, but now that crew’s got some cleanup work to do, not to mention a fresh paint job. A spokesman for the state’s Department of Transportation says the crew tried to stop the paint gun in time, but still ended up painting right over the little guy.

The DOT is a bit embarrassed but claims there was no way to avoid the painting snafu.

“They did try to stop the paint gun,”  a district engineer told the Tribune-Democrat. “But with the amount of congestion Thursday, the squirrelly geometry of the road and the size of equipment, they couldn’t turn around to go back and fix the mistake.”

Usually a foreman vehicle would drive ahead or behind the painting vehicle to clean up any kind of debris, but for some reason, there was no foreman that day. Instead, the crew came back the next day to scoop up the mess. Plenty of time for passersby to check out the roadkill’s new paint job.

“When I saw it, I almost wrecked my motorcycle because I was laughing so hard,” said one witness who drove past it on the way home.

Let’s hope the little guy has found a more peaceful spot to rest now.

Crews paint over dead raccoon on Franklin St. [Tribune-Democrat]

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