'It may be tempting to believe our 4WD has bumped over a wombat.' (from an article in a magazine)
Tempting?
Roadkill is driving some species towards extinction. Too few safe corridors for animals to find more food. Too many cars and trucks on many more roads through their habitats.
How about a campaign to stop carelessness about road-kill? This could encompass:
1. More careful night-driving. through countrysides and slower diving through bushland could prevent so many deaths and so many orphaned creatures that other people may then try to save, or don't.
2. Invention. Can a form of warning that is effective in warning for animals up to four minutes ahead of the coming killing-machine be invented for use by cars and trucks in places and at times that creatures are liable to be hit. Headlights can simply paralyse them in the middle of the road.
3. Safe crossing tunnels and overheads which are used in some countries. These should be build in places where many small animals get run over.
4. A British man eats road-kill as his way of preventing waste.
5. Raise awareness. It would be interesting to know how many drivers know they have driven over animals. The Royal Australian Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) could ask its members. Let's have some idea of the grim tally.
What are people feeling is their own greatest collective guilt? There's a lot of it around. Trillions are spent on weapons of horrible destruction – even by the 'goodies?
Universal Guilt Day – making a real Day of Atonement - followed by ? Could we have a Peace and Saving Museum?
See also:
1. "Tassie's roadkill carnage" by Michelle Paine in teh Hobart Mercury of 21 Nov 08.
NEARLY 300,000 animals are killed on Tasmanian roads every year. Among them, 4000 Tasmanian devils -- about 5 per cent of a population already being dying from an infectious cancer.
"Pretty much everything that lives in Tasmania, we've seen dead on the road," said scientist Alistair Hobday, who has compiled the figures in one of the most extensive roadkill studies in the world.
"Of that, 70 per cent are hit in roadkill blackspots, which only exist on small sections of the road."
2. roadkill.wilddiscovery.com.au/ "Wild Discovery Guides - Australian Wildlife RoadKill, A Wild Discovery Guide" with Len Zell.
Wild Discovery PO Box 1696 Townsville Qld 4810 ISBN 0-9757184-3-6 RRP: A$19.95. The description is:
Roadkill was shortlisted for the 2007 Whitley Award for significant contribution to Australian zoology. This is the essential 'in-car' book for any road traveller in Australia. With about one million kilometres of road, anyone travelling them is, sadly, very likely to see or cause roadkill - certainly of the millions of small bugs that will be hit.This book provides an overview of the types of roadkill, hints on what to do with them, how to clean bugs off the car and an eclectic mix of other information - from road safety to recipes. In addition the book gives an unusual insight into the many aspects of Australia's very special fauna, albeit in a somewhat macabre way.More than 200 photographs of roadkill all some identification and an excellent guide on how to avoid and observe roadkill and who to send interesting specimens to.
3. Macabre ‘humour' at www.wwwildcats.com/abz.htm
.
Due to the creative genius of one Charlie Conroy whom we proudly claim as one of our own, we are excited to announce a world first, the ABZ of ROADKILL. This is a photographic competition open to all bikers worldwide, it is designed to utilise something that would otherwise just lie around going to waste, and is currently regarded just as something to stay upwind of and to avoid hitting when it is lying in the middle of the road. This comp is aimed as a small way of making their sacrifice worthwhile and at the same time offending the general population. Both worthy aspirations of any genuine bikers!
4. Ten minutes on Google can find you a whole lot of insensitive things done and thought about roadkill.
Comments
Menkit (not verified)
Thu, 2010-08-05 04:03
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Thanks Valerie. I too am
quark
Tue, 2010-08-10 17:38
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Me too
Anonymouse (not verified)
Wed, 2010-08-11 11:07
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you'll never stop roadkill
RichB
Wed, 2010-08-11 23:37
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Animals
Search For Truth (not verified)
Thu, 2010-08-12 15:06
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Roadkill
Mollie (not verified)
Sat, 2012-08-11 23:54
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My beloved Bessie, victim of roadkill
Subject was: Bessie, my beloved dog. - Ed
As I was taking my 6 year old dog out for a walk she was run over by a car. She survived the hit after a shattered jaw and a twisted leg, as my mum carried the battered loved one back home she lay there knowing she was loved. 5 minutes later my dad comes to help take her to the vets hoping and praying she will be alright... Unfortunately she never made it to the vets as she died in the car. However, she was with my mum and she was loved, and it was better that she went then and not alone, on the road with no one there... PLEASE!!!!! help me stop road kill! I cried buckets for her and can't let any one else go through that pain!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP ME STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
admin
Sun, 2012-08-12 10:24
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Vale Bessie
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