Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road.
By Loren on Jan 14, 2009 in Uncategorized
So why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it can actually be done!
When I was a kid, we used to play a game called “guess the mess,” where you tried to be the first kid in the car to name the animal dead in the road. As an adult, I quietly repeat the exercise as I drive along county roads littered with the carcasses of creatures flattened by our cars. I always wonder if the drivers did everything they could to avoid the tire bump. Were they driving too fast, talking on the cell or texting or did the drivers simply not care enough to avoid the critters doing their best to get by in a world dominated by humans and our machines?
I worked on a ranch when I was younger with a cowboy who aimed for anything that moved along the country roads. His reasoning was always business. Coyotes threaten the calves, rabbits eat the grass meant for cattle, porcupines eat the wires on the equipment and snakes….well they’re snakes!
Our relationship with the animals with which we share earth and the roads is troubling. Some of you are probably figuring me for a real “wuss” right now for whining about what happens to rabbits, birds, bobcats and whatever happens to cross our roads, but I wonder how anyone can help but care?
Over the years, I’ve come to know and idolize a Ramona couple, Chuck and Cindy Traisi, who operate The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center. Chuck and Cindy along with a caring staff work incredibly long hours every day of the year caring for wild animals hit by cars, mauled by our dogs, bent after flying into our windows or broken after a tree was thoughtlessly pruned during nesting season. The carnage is significant. Between 15 and 20 people are killed in the U.S. each year because of car accidents involving wild animals, but for the wild animals the number is in the tens of millions. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve hit rabbits and squirrels on the road, and seen the outline of birds which have crashed into windows on our home. My only point here, I guess, is that it’s sad and I wish there was more we could do to keep from wiping out the creatures with whom we share San Diego.
The reason I bring this up now is that it is the road kill time of year. Wild animals are searching for mates and foraging for the extra food it takes to raise their young. Now is a good time to drive with them in mind and bring pets in at night so they don’t tangle with local wild animals.
It’s a hard problem to solve but one way we can help is by buying and reading a couple books by Cindy Traisi. While helping the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center, you’ll also be amazed at what an incredible story teller Cindy is. The books are “Because They Matter…” and the soon to be published, “Because They Matter Too…“ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Because-They-Matter/Cindy-Traisi/e/9780965656207
The first title was a constant bedside companion when my daughters were younger. They absolutely loved the stories of caring for wild animals injured and needing human hands to make them whole, or as close as possible again. I read a ton of books, and Cindy’s are among my favorites. She sent me a review copy of her latest title and I’ll never look at road kill the same way again.
The message this week is pretty simple, at a time when we are all feeling uncertain about the future, take time to consider your neighbors…even the ones with feathers or furry tails.
Okay let me have it. I’m a tree hugger, a people hater, an animal rights whacko. Let me know what you think. I can take it.
Thanks for tuning in, logging on and speaking up.
Loren, I have always enjoyed your part of the news, but you have gone too far this time. I don’t mind that you’re organic, and environmentally correct, but when you advocate preventing road-kill you are anti-business and that’s too far. Anti-road-kill will put the road kill café out of business, and that’s just not right. Check out this link http://www.road-kill-cafe.com/roadkill.html and see what we all would be missing without road-kill. Please take mercy on your carrion loving creatures.
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James Harper | Jan 14, 2009
I just saw your news story about road kill. What timing. As I drove home from yet another volunteer meeting at the Escondido Humane Society, I drove into my home development and suddenly saw this furry thing laying in the street. I did stop the car and backed up to see if it was a dead animal. And to my sorrow, it was an adult rabbit. I wondered how it died, and noted that the security gate into the community was stuck open. I then concluded that someone must of saw the gate open and hit the gas and drove through as quickly as possible and thus hit the poor unsuspecting rabbit and killed it. I felt so bad for the dead creature, I moved it to the side of the road in order for it to RIP. So, your story was “right on”. It is a shame that so many animals are killed by cars. Thanks for speaking out for all the poor helpless animals that are just trying to make it through one more day.
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Julie | Jan 14, 2009
The City of San Diego has a road kill database, reviewing it tells where the instinctual local wildlife corridors are. San Diego has numerous roadways both new and old and only the regional wildlife corridors have wildlife undercrossings. My hope is that the community will continue to work for solutions - by calling their jurisdictions to report areas of frequent roadkill (at the City of San Diego, call Environmental Services or ESD for pick & Streets Division to request the City look into installing wildlife crossing signs & or traffic calming measures in areas of frequent kills). When the deer rut starts in the fall, there is added justifcation because deer strikes hurt not only deer but motorists potentially as well. It would also be nice if the region as a whole would set up a mitigation bank, cast of volunteers and other environmental groups to funnel grant resources and developer mitigation money into wildlife crossing retrofits (i.e. adding culverts, overcrossings like they have in Europe, or actual tunnels where feasible. Also, people should volunteer for amazing local
groups such as the San Diego Tracking Team and Friends of San Diego Canyons and also show up to your local planning group and council meetings and let them know how you feel about making projects more green and truely ecologically friendly (they can even use it as a selling point!). Also – I’ve tried to submit roadkill season info to the Reader “Outside” listings but they were unresponsive in posting it, maybe someone else with more clout could get them to publish it. Thanks for your blog Loren, I’ve seen you at the San Diego Natural History Museum introducing speakers. Keep up the good work!
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Holly | Jan 14, 2009
Hey Loren. Love what you do w/ your time on the air. I wanted to suggest that people be mindful not to throw food out the window. I think some people think something like an apple core or a half of a granola bar is OK to throw out their car window for 2 reasons: 1) it’s going to quickly break down, and 2) it might be a treat for an animal. But if you think about it, food by the side of the road just brings animals closer to cars. Too much food by the side of the road will bring animals closer to the road more often if they think it’s a regular source of food. Animals closer to cars doesn’t help us or the animals!
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Andy L | Jan 14, 2009
Keep on being “a tree hugger, a people hater, an animal rights whacko” the world needs more like you in high visibility roles!
Now how about some tips to keep the dang cats out of my dormant garden beds!
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Mike | Jan 14, 2009
Ooh, I love a good blog, especially when it’s all about me! Thank you Loren, for everything. We do offer free of charge, a little booklet called BATS IN YOU BELFRY (Tips and Tidbits about Native Wildlife).It offers some hints on perceived “nuisance” wildlife and how to deal with them. Folks can call us and request the booklet or if the get the machine, leave name and address and request a copy (760) 789-2324.
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cindy | Jan 15, 2009
Reading this blog brought back memories of seeing poor animals dead or dying on the side of the road. I was walking with my son to get him to daycare, and there was a dead cat in the middle of the road. My then 3 yeard old says, “oh look the kitty is sleeping.” It was actually a horrific site, cat had literally been squashed. But I was just thinking, “oh no, I do not want to have to explain death to him at this age.”
I also witnessed a dog being hit by car. This guy literally drove right into the dog. Yes I also blame the owners, the dog should have been behind a locked gate.
Isn’t one of the warning signs of a serial killer someone who kills animals for fun? Shows how many of those walk among us.
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Gina | Jan 20, 2009
THANK YOU, Loren!! You have a definite soft spot for the critters and not shy about expressing your feelings. Your point is well-taken that all of us need to be extra vigilant while driving, esp. at night when so many animals are out and about. I, too, feel sad when I see an animal, wild or domestic, killed by a car. Thank you for sharing info @ Chuck and Cindy’s “Fund for Animals Wildlife Center” and Cindy’s book, “Because They Matter.” I will definitely put it on my must read list.
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sally whitlock | Jan 30, 2009
The road kill issue reminded me of a vacation my fiance and I took many years ago. I’m a Southern California gal born and raised. We were driving through Missouri and I kept seeing box turtles on the road. I made my fiance stop frequently because I wanted to put the turtles back where they wouldn’t become road kill. If he had stopped for every turtle, we would still be there 35 years later saving the “wild” turtles. But things have not changed that much. I was visiting Mt. Rainier a few years back and I ran over a chipmunk, who I’m sure was trying out for a part in an insurance commercial. I was so upset that I had to pull over and cry a few tears for the little guy.
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Barbara | Feb 2, 2009
Hi Loren,
Your articles are WONDERFUL! Keep on spreading your knowledge and insight! I’m also a fellow animal lover and enviornmentalist.
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Linda | May 4, 2009
Do not enough money to buy a house? Worry no more, because it is available to get the mortgage loans to work out such kind of problems. So take a consolidation loan to buy all you require.
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LATISHA24Moody | Jun 29, 2010