Years ago, Hugh and I were coming home from a late show and noticed a crew of stray cats feeding in the middle of the road. We slowed down and saw that someone had dumped a load of meat parts in the middle of a normally busy street. The strays were simply taking advantage of a free meal. But they were at great risk of becoming road kill themselves.
So what do you do? Does anyone but a nut pick up shards of beef fat from the pavement at 1:00 in the morning? No. No one but a nut does that.
So here we go. We wrapped our hands in plastic bags and tossed as much meat as possible into the shrubs to the side of the road, hoping to avert what (for us) would have been feline tragedy.
The story of animals and roads is gruesome enough. Few corridors were built and designed with wildlife crossings in mind. Many roads are built through migration corridors, effectively cutting one area of habitat from the other and making for a natural disaster as animals migrate on their natural trajectories. As a result, cars claim up to 400 million animals a year in the U.S. — about 1 million animals a day. And a portion of those killed are carrion feeders, standing in the road, eating what’s already been struck.
Once in a while, we’ll find a Turkey Vulture just inches from being road kill itself, as it struggles with a piece of meat on the highway. The vulture pictured here was on a less traveled road in Mt. Diablo State Park.
Turkey Vulture Meal - ©ingrid
But, it was feasting in the middle, around a blind corner. So Hugh moved the long-dead squirrel off to the side as the vulture wondered what on earth we were doing with its recently acquired meal.
Turkey Vulture Looking On - ©ingrid
If it’s prudent and safe — if we’re careful and have the means to do so without injuring ourselves or anyone else — we do our part to help the carrion-eating creatures of the world by moving their meals to a safer spot. Of course, this is taking into consideration all factors: road safety, personal safety, sanitation, discernment over what to move and what not to move.
One additional resource: I found this sheet on Road Kill Avoidance Tips from Earth Caretaker — using knowledge of an animal’s flight response to understand how you may prevent hitting him or her on the road.
Related post: Road Kill and Wildlife Crossings
