Roadkill
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- For the professional wrestler known as Roadkill, see Michael Depoli, for the movie marketed as Roadkill in the UK and Australia, see Joy Ride.
Road fauna or roadkill is a term describing animals fatally struck by or ridden over by vehicles on roads and freeways.
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[edit] History
During the early 20th century, roadkill became a common sight in all industrialized First World nations as they adopted the internal combustion engine and the automobile. The basic problem is that animals had previously never encountered two-ton metal objects racing across the landscape, and thus never ever evolved appropriate instincts for dealing with the new threat.
In Australia, specific actions taken to protect against the variety of animals that can damage vehicles - such as bull bars (usually known in Australia as 'roo bars', in reference to kangaroos) - indicate that the Australian experience has some unique features with road kill. [1]
[edit] Research
The Simmons Society was founded by Professor Roger M. Knutson of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa to further studies of road fauna. Professor Knutson also published a book called "Common Animals of Roads, Street, and Highway: A Field Guide To Flattened Fauna".
The number of road fauna present on a given stretch of freeway is said to follow a Poisson distribution. Some researchers believe that lunar phases have an effect on the amount of roadkills. Further study is needed to support this theory.
[edit] Breakdown by species
In 1993, 25 schools throughout New England participated in a roadkill study involving 1,923 animal deaths. By category, the fatalities were
- 82% mammals
- 15% birds
- 3% reptiles and amphibians
Extrapolating this data nationwide, Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People Newspaper estimated that the following animals are being killed by motor vehicles in the U.S. annually:
- 41 million squirrels
- 26 million cats
- 22 million rats
- 19 million opossums
- 15 million raccoons
- 6 million dogs
- 350,000 deer
This study may not have considered differences in observability among taxa (i.e. dead raccoons are easier to see than dead frogs), and has not been published in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
[edit] Michigan roadkill analysis
In 1994, Michigan reported 56,666 deer collisions, of which five resulted in human fatalities, according to Mark Matthew Braunstein of the Santa Cruz Hub. The problem is so pervasive that, according to an article by Hank Pellissier of the San Francisco Chronicle, Michigan uses roadkill statistics to determine its deer population.
[edit] Roadkill prevention
Collisions with animals can have many negative consequences:
- Human injury or death
- Vehicular damage
- Harm to endangered species
- Injury or death of pets
Lost pet skunks are particularly vulnerable since they lack a sense of direction and cannot see objects more than about 3 metres away with any clarity.
Collisions with animals with antlers are particularly dangerous (e.g., deer) as the head has a tendency to separate and come through the windshield.
Deer horns can be mounted on vehicles to warn deer of approaching automobiles, though their effectiveness is disputed.
[edit] Night driving
Although strikes can happen at any time of day, deer tend to move at dawn and dusk and are particularly active during the October–December mating season. Driving at night presents its own challenges: Nocturnal species are on the move, and visibility, particularly side visibility, is reduced to the point that "it just came out of nowhere" becomes a common lament. Furthermore, the glare of vehicle headlights can dazzle some species, such as rabbits: They will freeze in the road rather than flee. The simple tactics of reducing speed and scanning both sides of the road for foraging deer can improve driver safety at night. Drivers may see the glow of a deer's eyes before seeing the animal itself.
[edit] Wildlife crossings
Wildlife crossings allow animals to travel over or underneath roads. They are most widely used in Europe, but have also been installed in a few U.S. locations and in parts of Western Canada. As new highways cause habitats to become increasingly fragmented, these crossings could play a crucial role in protecting endangered species.
In the U.S., sections of road known to have heavy deer cross-traffic will usually have a warning sign depicting a bounding deer. Similar signs exist for moose, elk and other species.
In the American West, roads may pass through large areas designated as "open range", meaning that no fences separate drivers from large animals such as cattle or bison. A driver may round a bend to find a small herd standing in the road! Open range areas are generally marked with signage and protected by a cattle guard.
A few states now have sophisticated systems to protect motorists from large animals. One of these systems is called RADS (Roadway Animal Detection System). A solar powered sensor detects animals near the roadway and flashes a light to alert oncoming drivers.
[edit] Advocacy
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is an example of an organization advocating roadkill prevention.
[edit] Cooking and eating
Sometimes called the highway supermarket, roadkill if undiseased and sufficiently fresh is entirely safe to eat. A number of cookbooks specifically for roadkill have been written.[1]
Roadkill is sometimes a part of pet foods protein.
Between 1992 and 1999 there was a restaurant chain in New England called the Road Kill Cafe which pretended to serve road killed animals.
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[edit] Trivia
Armadillos, a commonly squashed animal is run over so easily and so often because an armadillo's first instinct to a threat (in this case, a car) is to jump in the air. When they do this to a car, the car does not stop, and therefore kills the animal.
In Japan, a railway roadkill is sometimes referred as "tuna" (maguro; マグロ). Because the dead body's head and feet are chopped off by the train, it looks like a piece of frozen tuna in a fish market (the tail of a tuna is always chopped off to examine its fat content). See ja:マグロ (鉄道事故) Tuna (Railroad Accident)
Roadkill is sometimes used in art in many forms. Some of these artists are formally trained in traditional taxidermy preparation while others are merely experimenting.
There had been at least one case in the U.S. where a jail inmate was allegedly forced to eat roadkill.
- We reject Sheriff Clegg's contention that the relevant law governing his conduct was not clearly established at the time Appellee was allegedly served contaminated roadkill meat in prison., Goodrick v. Clegg, 129 F.3d 125, Unpublished Disposition, 9th Cir.(Idaho), Nov 13, 1997.
- Plaintiff Goodrick was incarcerated at Kootenai County Jail in Idaho on two occasions. While there he was fed roadkill, which he claims made him very sick., Goodrick v. Clegg, 210 F.3d 382, Unpublished Disposition, 9th Cir.(Idaho), Jan 4, 2000.
[edit] Sources
- Driving Animals to Their Graves by Mark Matthew Braunstein, Santa Cruz Hub.
- The Art of Dead Mice by Hank Pellissier, San Francisco Chronicle.
- Roadkill 2004
- Dr. Splatt's Roadside Attraction, Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection.
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[edit] External links
- Just Because It's In Slow Motion Doesn't Mean You Can Stop It - Joy Hunsberger - an artist who has been photographing roadkill as a form of ancestor worship since 1997.
- Caught in the Headlights — a documentary film that examines the conflict between wildlife and automobile culture
- Stop Roadkill — an artist using roadkill in art
- Minnesota Association Of Rogue Taxidermists — a group of taxidermists and artists who use animals (some roadkill) in their work
- Lake Jackson Ecopassage — a campaign to mitigate roadkill along the world's worst turtle-killing highway
- Roadkill web site — Photographs of various roadkill.
- RateRoadKill.com — Fun site dedicated to photos of roadkill around the world. User can participate by rating the photos from 1-10 or by uploading their own photos to be rated.
