# What is the most common road kill in your area? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378 "2011-02-14T23:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/21 "2011-02-15T00:13:54Z")
I would have expected it to be possums, because they are urban beasties and that’s where I live, but if I’m honest I have seen more kangaroo roadkill than any other, even though it’s only when I’m out in the rural roads, which I am about once a month on average. For whatever reason, most urban roadkill is swept away or otherwise not noticed by me when I go out and about. So what I see is what’s not swept away by other cars, and thus far it’s mostly been kangaroos. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/22 "2011-02-15T00:21:28Z")
Skunks where I live. No, they are not badgers. Skunks. This time of year there is at least one dead one every mile or two. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/23 "2011-02-15T00:23:32Z")
I seem to notice snakes the most. skunks would be high up the list. scavengers tend to scoop up the yummier varmints like birds, squirrels, rabbits a little faster. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/24 "2011-02-15T00:24:29Z")
pedestrians ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/25 "2011-02-15T00:37:20Z")
Squirrels are the most common 'round here. Runners up would be opossum, skunks, raccoons and cats. For sheer numbers, I think the most roadkill I’ve ever encountered was in Australia. On those long-haul highways, it seems like you see a 'roo carcass (or two) every couple of kilometers . ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/26 "2011-02-15T00:52:49Z")
Fox Squirrels. A suburban import - I’ve only once seen a native Western Gray Squirrel roadkill. Followed by a rough tie between opossums and raccoons, then probably skunks for the nocturnal trifecta. Then probably domestic cats. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/27 "2011-02-15T00:56:16Z")
Another skunky vote. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/28 "2011-02-15T00:59:19Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > Where are you? I don’t think we have badgers here in Florida (although I could be wrong; I didn’t think we had otters until I saw one crossing the road). Southern England. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/29 "2011-02-15T01:17:52Z")
It is squirrels here in the outer Boston suburbs. Deer are plentiful and cause the real damage to cars though. I once came up to this long traffic jam on a suburban road not known for any traffic. The culprit was a huge snapping turtle about 18 inches wide. No one would hit it but everyone just sat there waiting for someone to do something. I finally got sick of the situation and grabbed the thing up with my fingers under its shell. It tried to bite me of course but I got it into a pond across the street to applause. It took 20 minutes to clean my car after I got home from the slime I got on my hands. I hope he appreciated it. Growing up in Louisiana, we ran over just about everything from raccoons to huge rattlesnakes. It is a miracle that armadillos survive as a species because their most notable talent is getting it by cars. It doesn’t help that they adapted the trait of being road colored and looking like a rock. They tend to flip over and split when you hit them so we called them armadillos on the half shell. You can smell one of them cooking on the road for days as you drive past it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/30 "2011-02-15T01:36:57Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It is a miracle that armadillos survive as a species because their most notable talent is getting it by cars. There was a sociological study a few years ago (using very realistic fake armadillos) that concluded a great many people swerve TO hit them, so it really is a miracle they keep on truckin’. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/31 "2011-02-15T01:42:44Z")
Probably [Tamandua,](http://www.ristohurme.com/Costa%20Rica/tamandua%20in%20grass.jpg) or Lesser Anteater. Slow, stupid, and with very poor vision. Sloths are also fairly common roadkill anywhere near trees. They actually come down from the trees to cross to another one, and of course it takes them a very long time to cross the road. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/32 "2011-02-15T01:53:06Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There was a sociological study a few years ago (using very realistic fake armadillos) that concluded a great many people swerve TO hit them, so it really is a miracle they keep on truckin’. Most of the snapping turtles I’ve seen hit along the highway are way over at the edge of the paved shoulder, almost in the grass. So yeah, somebody swerved way out of thier way to get them. Assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/33 "2011-02-15T02:26:54Z")
Another vote for skunks. I’m in western Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![OleOneEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f14d63/32.png) [@OleOneEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OleOneEye)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/34 "2011-02-15T02:31:58Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Toss up between chipmunks/squirrels and porcupines, here in Maine. What part of the state? I grew up in Maine and don’t recall ever seeing a single porcupine. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/35 "2011-02-15T02:41:25Z")
Skunk. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/36 "2011-02-15T02:44:44Z")
:mad:SKUNK GODDAMMIT!:mad: I go to work before dawn every day! And in the dark, you can’t see the dead ones in the street. **But you can _smell em_!!!** :mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/37 "2011-02-15T02:45:19Z")
Joe? I was wondering what happened to him… Skunks here in northern New Jersey. You can’t miss the smell either. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/38 "2011-02-15T02:50:11Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > Most of the snapping turtles I’ve seen hit along the highway are way over at the edge of the paved shoulder, almost in the grass. So yeah, somebody swerved way out of thier way to get them. > > Assholes. I wouldn’t put any stock in where you see them _after_ they got hit, unless you actually saw them get squished. Both traffic continuing to hit roadkill until it clears the roadway, plus police officers who will remove the roadkill from the roadway but not take it with them in their cars (as they aren’t equipped to carry it), will tend to move things to the edge of the road. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/39 "2011-02-15T02:53:11Z")
Skunks, followed closely by opossums. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/40 "2011-02-15T03:00:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Gophers. Sorry, [Richardson’s Ground Squirrels](http://fusion.uleth.ca/crdc/rgs/photos/Juvon2.JPG), which are commonly known as gophers on the prairies. > > I even made up a joke about it - “Why did the gopher cross the road? To prove it could be done.” 🙂 No, that’s “Why did the chicken cross the road?” “To prove to raccoons it could be done.” 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378.md?page=3)