Wildlife Roadkill is anything you see squash on the road.
It’s on the rise to become a major threat to wild animals, and a threat most of us are probably part of – thus a threat we can all help reducing.
An Australian icon victim of the road... Photo: Lee Curtis, ataglance.com.au
If you are not worried about the impact of roadkill on wild animals, that’s just because you don’t know about it!
Californians!
You can help wildlife by reporting interactions with wild animals on the road through the California Roadkill Observation System!
The facts:
“We treat the attrition of [wildlife] lives on the road like the attrition of lives in war:
horrifying, unavoidable, justified.”
Barry Lopez, Apologia
A collision between a vehicle and a wild animal is not good for humans either.
In the USA alone:
I hear so many people saying “stupid [deer/caribou/fox/kangaroo/any living animal on Earth], why did it just cross now, when I arrived?”
The answers to that are many – and don’t include animal stupidity:
In summary, wildlife confronted to our roads and cars is the equivalent of you being thrown on an alien planet where objects move quicker than you ever seen, in all directions of space, with no apparent rules and where your first collision with one object might be your last.
Not fun, hey?
A wildlife collision is often deadly for the animal and dangerous or expensive for you. It’s better for everyone involved to avoid it!
It’s start simply, by behaving safely on the road.
Drive carefully and pay attention to the roadsides, where wild animals might be on the look for a crossing.
Drive extra carefully (slowly if you can) at dawn and dusk, where more wild animals are out and about.
Respect wildlife crossings! If signs have been deployed in a particular spot, it’s because there have been years and years of data on roadkill accumulated! You can trust them!
Some wild animals might actually run on the side of the road for a little while. Don’t overtake them. They are scared and confused and might jump in front of your car.
Don’t throw food from your car (sometimes you might throw some biodegradable food from your car, I’m sure you would never litter anyway!). Food on the edge of the road can attract wildlife from the bush. They can stay for a little while on the edge of the road, and then become more at risk of a car encounter.
If you can, remove dead animals from the road. Smelly carcasses can attract meat eaters like birds of prey, which can in turn become victims of cars. Put your safety first always, only remove them if safe.
If you only do one thing, please do this, and now: look for and enter the number of your local Wildlife Rescue service in your mobile phone.
Why?
Because the day you will hit an animal, or find one injured on the side of the road the last thing you want to do is to spend half an hour looking for someone who can help.
You will be stressed, and the animal will be in pain. You will want help, and you will want help quick.
Another good idea is to keep a wildlife emergency toolbox in your car, containing:
You just hit a wild animal or spotted an animal on the side of the road, what should you do?
Australian road sign near a speed bump created to protect a large bird called Cassowary. A little bit of humour for a very dark topic...
Put your gloves (you never know if it carries a transmissible disease, not to mention fleas and ticks) and remove it as far from the road as you can (more than 2m. OK, you don’t need to go 10km either!)
Remark: if you are in Australia, if the roadkill is a marsupial, check the pouch for the presence of a pouch young . Many pouch young survive even though their mum is dead...
An injured animal will be stressed and in pain: it can bite and scratch you. Don’t take it personally - it doesn’t know you want to help - but be prepared.
Sometimes it helps to give the animal something to bite first (towel, glove), then pick it up while its teeth are busy. Again, use your judgment and don’t put yourself at risk.
A special case: if you have a young orphan, they usually appreciate animal warmth: you can wrap them up and put them inside your clothing.
And finally...
If you have to transport the wild animal yourself to a vet or a carer:
"I brake for snake!"
A beautiful python trying to make it alive across the road...
Wildlife death on our road is an outbreak...
The good news is: we are the cure!
Be careful and attentive while driving and always be prepared for a wildlife emergency on the road: simple and life saving steps for our wild animals.
If you want to do more: become a wildlife rescuer or carer.