article Related Topics:
Roadkill
 

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 non-scientific term describing animals fatally struck by or ridden over by vehicles on roads and freeways.

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 evolved appropriate instincts for dealing with the new threat.

Also - due to different animals in different countries - aspects of this article are specifically oriented towards North America. 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.

See: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1516291.htm

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.

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

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:

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.

Roadkill prevention

Collisions with animals can have many negative consequences: 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.

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.

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.

Advocacy

The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation is an example of an organization advocating roadkill prevention.

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.

An ordinance was pushed through Tennessee's lower legislative house making it illegal to consume roadkill.

In some counties in Indiana, there is a list of people to call in case fresh road kill is deemed usable. These people come and take the animal and have it processed for food just as a hunter would his prize.

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.

Sources

External links

Road transport | Meat

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Roadkill".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world