Today as I walked home after work I saw for the nth time the mangled carcass of some poor unfortunate creature, dead on the road. Of course I wondered about the longterm effects of steady roadkill on the animal populations surrounding the roads.
So: is there any evidence that the overall populations of deer, moose, skunks, squirrels, raccoons, wombats, fruit bats, reticulated pythons, etc, etc, are getting smarter because their least road-aware members are contilually being killed? Or is the appearance of lethal traffic simply too sudded in evolutionary terms
I don’t know about the whole crew (judging from local happenings, the squirrels haven’t picked up a clue), but I did read not long ago someone’s description of a wolf crossing a divided interstate. He said before the wolf crossed the first part, he looked to the left only, and when he crossed from the median he first looked to the right only. Sounds like the wolves may be working the problem.
Roadkill! I don’t know the answer to your question, but I can’t help but think – looking at fresh, unmangled raccoon, possum, deer, skunk, squirrel, etc. – that they’re just napping, sunning themselves on the road.
After a day or two, it’s pretty obvious that they’re not getting up.
But before they’re smeared all over, it looks like they just need someone to nudge them, to move off somewhere safe.
And it’s mind boggling – with all the open country, why do so many of them end up on the road? And what are they doing out after dark?
I always feel a little sad, and I wonder if anyone back in the den or the nest will notice their absence.
