# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/61 "2011-02-15T13:53:07Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > > [@Cat Whisperer](#): > > > > Gophers. Sorry, Richardson’s Ground Squirrels, 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.” 😉 I was hoping the expression around here was unique, but I see I was wrong. Our version is: Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to a possum it could be done. One thing is for sure: the joke is good as long as you plug in the local varmint. It’s possums by a long shot in this area. After that it’s maybe squirrels or house pets. Believe it or not we saw an armadillo dead on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee a while back. Dead or alive I had no idea they got this far from Texas. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/62 "2011-02-15T13:59:40Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > Bear?:eek: Here in Florida the occasional bear becomes road kill, yes. Also, unfortunately, the occasional [Florida bobcat.](http://www.realestatesarasota.net/bobcat/florida.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/63 "2011-02-15T16:46:59Z")
Squirrel here in Central Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/64 "2011-02-15T16:49:47Z")
Skunks, opossums, cats. Suburban northern California. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/65 "2011-02-15T17:01:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Elephants In that case, unless the offending vehicle is at least the size of a dump truck, I presume that the road kill is the car and passengers. Moose usually beat cars, so elephants probably are barely diverted. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/66 "2011-02-15T17:12:36Z")
1. Deer 2. Cat (probably a tie for first) 3. Coons It’s weird, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a roadkill elk. There’s 1-2 freeway moose kills per year, just saw a calf this weekend. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/67 "2011-02-15T17:34:57Z")
Can’t believe the OP left skunks off the list. I’ll bet that’s why there are so many ‘other’ votes. More skunks than anything else around here, but we get enough deer that they’d be #1 by mass if not quantity. ETA: Sheesh, roadkill skunks even have their own [theme song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UejelYnVI3U). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/68 "2011-02-15T18:54:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I even made up a joke about it - “Why did the gopher cross the road? To prove it could be done.” 🙂 I’ve heard a variation: “Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the deer that it could be done.” ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/69 "2011-02-15T18:59:08Z")
Funny no one has ever run over a Sasquatch. Or hit a ‘rod’. Think about the rods, we have video of them, so the substance they are made of interacts with photons. So if a car made of matter should ever hit one, bingo, we would have a squished rod to study. But it has never happened . . . ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/70 "2011-02-15T19:17:55Z")
I see squirrels most often. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/71 "2011-02-15T19:23:26Z")
Suburban Cleveland area (far west side) 1. Squirrel 2. Deer ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/72 "2011-02-15T20:10:07Z")
Northern Virginia. I almost never see anything but deer. That may be due to the highly efficient hawk population though. Logically, one would think there would be more squirrels. ETA: My car threw a rod once, does that count? Into the fuel line . . . it was fiery . . . at 395 and Glebe . . . on a Monday morning. Fun was had by all. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/73 "2011-02-15T20:59:50Z")
Birds and squirrels run (broken) neck and neck around my neck of the woods. Followed by possums and skunks. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/74 "2011-02-15T21:06:00Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > :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: I smell them too, on the way to work in the morning. I’m not sure they’re all dead. I think some may have just been disturbed in their regularly scheduled skunk business. But I do see a fair number of dead ones, along with raccoon. But I voted deer. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/75 "2011-02-15T22:45:42Z")
I voted raccoons Number One in the Chicago area. Often they die with little visible external damage. They look like they’re sleeping on the shoulder of the road. Coyotes are up-and-coming on the local roadkill charts. The only animal I’ve ever killed personally, locally, was a mallard drake. The damn thing walked under my car, raised his head, and got de-crap-itated. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/76 "2011-02-15T23:05:23Z")
Squirrel, by far. Houston. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/77 "2011-02-15T23:15:43Z")
Ditto, squirrels by far. Dallas. ---
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/78 "2011-02-15T23:36:24Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > 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. I’m pretty confident in my theory. Your theory doesn’t explain all the similarly sized roadkill that lays in the traffic lanes until it is totally obliterated. Or if just out of the traffic lane, like right on the white line it’ll stay there 'til it rots away. Can hardly imagine police officers around here moving roadkill unless it was a deer or something large enough to cause a car to lose control if struck. Even deer lie along the highway for days or weeks if they’re outside the lines. If they’re in the grass they may skeletonize where they land. Can easily imagine redneck locals swerving out of traffic lanes to squish a turtle. In my earlier posts I forgot groundhogs! They may be tied with raccoons for first place. Skunks are common too. See the occasional coyote and I think a badger once. ---
**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 16, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/79 "2011-02-16T01:33:25Z")
In MN, it’s bird, deer, bird, bird, skunk, raccoon, deer, MOOSE, bird. In WI, it’s deer, deer, deer, deer, raccoon, deer, deer, deer, skunk, deer, deer. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378/80 "2011-02-16T01:44:44Z")
I’ve hit two in my time-a tree swallow in Maryland (on the windshield), and a rabbit in my old yard that I didn’t know about until I went to get the mail the next day-he was right in the tire rut in our old gravel driveway, flat as a pancake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-common-road-kill-in-your-area/571378.md?page=5)