Road fauna

Road fauna or roadkill is a non-scientific term describing animals ridden over by vehicles on roads and freeways. James Simmons' classic work Feathers and Fur on the Turnpike was published in 1938.

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 many species had previously never routinely encountered two-ton metal objects racing across the landscape at 50 miles per hour, and thus never evolved appropriate instincts for dealing with this new threat.

Research

The Simmons Society was founded by Professor Roger M. Knutson (http://biology.luther.edu/knu.htm) 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 moon 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 (http://edutel.musenet.org:8042/roadkill/index.html) 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 (http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/) estimated that the following animals are being killed by motor vehicles annually:

• 41 million squirrels
• 26 million cats
• 22 million rats
• 19 million opossums
• 15 million raccoons
• 6 million dogs
• 350,000 deer

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 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/08/urbananimal.DTL) 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:

• Personal 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 meters 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.

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. As new highways cause habitats to become increasingly fragmented, these crossings could play a crucial role in protecting endangered species.

Advocacy

The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation (http://www.jhwildlife.org/roadkill.html) is an example of an organization advocating roadkill prevention.

Trivia

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)

Sources

• Driving Animals to Their Graves (http://www.santacruzhub.org/pp/roadkill/stats.htm) by Mark Matthew Braunstein, Santa Cruz Hub.
• The Art of Dead Mice (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/03/08/urbananimal.DTL) by Hank Pellissier, San Francisco Chronicle.
• Roadkill 2004 (http://edutel.musenet.org:8042/roadkill/index.html)
• Dr. Splatt's Roadside Attraction (http://www.anapsid.org/roadkill.html), Melissa Kaplan's Herp Care Collection.