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Road fauna or Roadkill is a 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.
Wide-ranging large carnivores like wolves and grizzly bears and slow-moving animals such as turtles and salamanders are particularly vulnerable to roadkill. 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
Brewster Bartlett, also known as Dr. Splatt, began the idea of monitoring dead animals along the roadway as he traveled back and forth from his school. 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
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:
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
Mountain goats used to cross U.S. 2 to get to a salt lick on the other side of the canyon. Now they can get there on rocky passageways underneath these bridges, shielded from view by tree cover and the steep hillside. 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 meters away with any clarity.
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.
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