General Cycling Discussion - Roadkill

Since I am an animal lover, one of the hardest things for me to deal with is getting up close and personal with the road kill that we roadies see out there. I guess the most disheartening thing to see is a full grown dog or cat that's been struck. People should know better than to let their pets run loose near roads but even I have had my dogs dig under fences or sneak though open gates from time to time. Usually I just turn my head and hammer for a few pedal strokes to leave the scene behind.

Even when it's a wild animal, one that no person had an emotional attachment to, I stiil don't like to see the gruesome remains of animal vs. car.

Living as I do, close to a huge military reservation, there is plenty of habitat for the critters. Though it may be gruesome, here's what I've seen this season:

opossum
raccoon
rabbit
squirrel
deer
a small black bear (that's what got me to thinking about this)
song birds
turtle
snake
beaver
Canada Goose
cat
dog


:( :( :(

No bear or beaver. The town destroyed the beaver because it was contaminating the water supply. No bear here, yet. Opossum are common road kill sightings for me. One momma possum left me dodging her young for several nights. In addition to rabbit, squirrel, deer, cats & dogs, turtles and snakes, I have seen roadkill salamanders, Luna Moths, weasels, and a Saw-whet Owl. I've also come close to some road-kill motorists.

I can add Bobcat, and Armadillo (possum on the half shell) to the list.

YUMMY, :D Roadkill is a great power snack if ya beat the buzzards to it. If it has been in the sun long enough it is like naturally made jerkey.

Sam - in your case, I might just resort to cannibalism should I see you splattered on the road late this month in Dublin!!

I eat too much junk food Lou. Would probably be bad for the cholesterol level.

Waaaa... I hate seeing squished animals. I always get really upset when I see poor squished squirrels. I love all animals and it really bothers me.

You forgot to mention the 2 piles of skunk junk I had to pass twice to and from work today!

There's nothing quite like hearing the pitter patter of a big black dog coming up on your left heal in the dark.

Originally posted by amerpie



Canada Goose



:( :( :(


Wow. You didn't put Canadian Goose, or Canadian Geese.

You must know a little something about wildlife. It seems that everybody gets that one wrong.

Yeah, but after they get ran over enough and dry out they make great sailcats!!

A kangaroo and, incredibly, a rabbit on today's ride. :(

Oh yeah, a few canetoads too, but they kill so much stuff that we're probably better off without them.

About three squirrels today.

The saddest thing I ever saw was a momma duck & her ducklings get smacked down, one after another, as they tried to cross I-90. I still feel very sad when I think about them. Prayers for their duckie little souls. :(

Canada geese are such big birds, hard to imagine them being run over!

Speaking of ducks (waaaaah!) last year, I was out on a ride, on road called Lakeshore- because it runs along a huge lake! One day, sometime in june, I noticed a car going the other way had stopped and something was in front of it. It was a mother duck crossing the road with her ducklings. They must have been recent hatchlings- the cutest little fuzzballs! You just want to scoop them up. I waited until I saw them cross safely. I promised that I'd be careful along that road from now on, when riding out there. I hope I never see any of them get run over!

Speaking of ducks, Last year we were feeding the ducks in the lake behind our house with the neighbors little boy of four years. A new brood of ducklings were there eating the breadcrumbs alongside momma duck.

All of a sudden the water swirled and splashed and behold, one of the ducklings was gone. The horror in the little boys eyes was amazing. A large fish had surfaced and snapped up that duck right in front of us. It was incredible. It was either a bass or catfish.

I have not seen a dead bear yet on the road. We do have them. I would add 3 wild turkeys(these were all mowed down by one car in the same area), grouse, hawks, and a mink to the list.

I have seen enough dead cats to last me a lifetime plus I know I have to look at it again on the way home I have never run any animal over in 7 years of driving I tend to slow down obviously some people don't give a toss about animals!!! :(

Here’s the worst I’ve ever seen.
Last year, on the road just past our drive way, someone hit a skunk. We saw it on the right side of the road. It was there for about 3 or 4 days. Then I noticed that it had been dragged to the opposite side of the road. I figured some scavenger was trying to eat it. The next time I went by in my car it looked as if the dead skunk was swarming with movement, but I couldn’t tell what it was. We parked the car at home and walked up to see. It was a whole litter of baby skunks. They were starving and trying to nurse off of the dead (squished) mother skunk. Two of them were trying to drag the dead momma back to their lair. It ripped my heart to think what those poor critters had been going through for the last few days.

The little skunks looked like they were old enough to eat solid food. We gave them some cat food and took them to a wild animal rescuer in the area who said that he would feed them until they were old enough to fend for themselves and then release in the wild again.

Oh, peeeyew- I remember one day last summer, a very warm day, suddenly getting a strong whiff of skunk while out on a ride. Which is unusual in the daytime. Just then, we passed by a squished skunk. Gag!

The only skunks that we have out here are the two legged kind. ;)

No one mentioned ground hog. I once saw a dead cow. That provided a wonderful odor:(

I accidentally ran over a squirrel last year on my bike. He ran off into the woods after I hit him. A guy in a pick-up truck rode up to me and said "did you see that!!???" (like I wouldn't have noticed). The thing that was impressive is that it felt just like running over a pressurized fire hose. Those little guys are in great shape.

I have seen road killed bobcats. I have also seen road killed alligators.

On a beach cruiser I once ran over a dead jellyfish. It was more solid than I had expected it to be. Kind of gross.

If you come across road kill that's been recently hit, the meat is still probably fresh enough to take home and cook. There are several excellent road kill cookbooks on the market. Good eatin!!!! :D

the meat is still probably fresh enough to take home and cook. Here's a tip: If you find a fresh roadkill on a warm summer morning, leave it there. It will be nicely tenderized when you pick it up in the afternoon.

I mostly see raccoons, possums, deer, rabbits and skunks. I have seen an occasional snake, turtle, owl, pheasant porcupine, and ooodles of 2-D frogs and toads.

Roadkill Bingo--wanna play?

Originally posted by trmcgeehan
If you come across road kill that's been recently hit, the meat is still probably fresh enough to take home and cook. There are several excellent road kill cookbooks on the market. Good eatin!!!! :D

Around here you don't need to take it home, it just cooks on the road most of the time. Problem being I don't particularly like my meat overdone!

I've seen my share of road-hides while riding, but the worst by far was a horse that had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road. :(
We could tell it was hit by a car by all the auto parts lying near the dead animal. It just broke our hearts to see such a beautiful animal killed like that and just left there.

You know the roadkill is fresh and edible if it moans as you run over it. :D

GRENDEL, Have you ever tried to drag a horse off the road, or anywhere else for that matter? I'm sure it was waiting for the tankage truck.
trmcgeehan, THAT'S JUST SICK!

I had a stupid mutt run into my front tire this week and just about knock me off my bike! Road kill dosen't seem all that bad "just kidding"!

We have a factory here that turns dead animal parts into "god knows what" and road kill goes into the mix! BTW that's the tankage truck.:eek:

I've seen Canada geese runned over....the worst was once when the poor thing had just been runned over and wasn't fully dead yet :(

Originally posted by KennethToronto
I've seen Canada geese runned over....the worst was once when the poor thing had just been runned over and wasn't fully dead yet :(

Did you do the right thing and stop and snap it's neck to put it out of it's misery?

Originally posted by Grendel
I've seen my share of road-hides while riding, but the worst by far was a horse that had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road. :(
We could tell it was hit by a car by all the auto parts lying near the dead animal. It just broke our hearts to see such a beautiful animal killed like that and just left there.

:eek: Where abouts was this??? was it a wild horse?

There are a lot of stables and farms in the area where they breed and keep horses, so I assume it came from one of those -- got through the fence somehow. :(

Once i hit a waterbird with my workvan, i stopped and noticed that it was not dead yet, so i reversed and drove backwards and killed the bird!
I`m a restless soul since that happened.....


I`m a cruel man :cry:







(Note: i didn`t had tools in the back, so it was the only way to get this bird out of misery)





:beer:

Wow a mink.... Dude you shoulda picked it up the skin woulda made a great cover for your saddle and you might have had enough left over to make some nice fuzzy grip covers for winter riding.

Have you ever smelled a live mink? They smell just like a skunk! Just not quite as strong.