Giant Defiance

So what is one supposed to do about dead animals on the side of the road? I usually try to avoid them and think to myself, "Someday that will be me..."

There's been a squirrel on my route for almost two weeks. On one hand, it has been really interesting, observing the body decompose slowly into what it is today. But on the other hand, the corpse is rather gruesome to look at.

So am I supposed to pick it (the squirrel) up with a baggy and throw it out? Or is there some sort of community service one is to call for cleaning up roadkill? I know that in the south and near trailer parks roadkill doesn't linger for too long, but I live in a northern suburb (just kidding).

But yeah, thanks for any advice on roadkill management.

tjspiel

Nature will take care of it. If it's a genuine road hazard like a deer or something then I would call to have it removed.

colleen c

If it really bothers you a lot and since it is a small wild animal, then take a gallon size Zip lock bag with you. Turn the bag inside out and pick it up with the bag, zip it up and lay it in a peaceful spot like in the brush nearby for it's final resting ground. You will feel better and it will be out of your conscience.

If it is a dog or cat, it may be worthwhile to report it as a dead animal as it could been possibly somebody pet. On the othe other hand, if it's similar to a black cat, but look like a skunk and smell like a skunk.....get the heck out of there.

009jim

Animals are not a problem compared to my shock surprise a week ago when someone had dumped their TV set off the overpass and it smashed right onto the bike path. I had to stop and carry my crate until I got past the glass and crepe.

wolfchild

I wouldn't even touch it. Just leave it alone. There are lot's of roadkills around where I live, mostly squirrels but I've also seen lot's of skunks, oppossums,racoons

trekker pete

Some folks make things way too complicated.

No gallon sized ziplocks or calls to government authorities are warranted.

It's a dried out bit of fur and not much else. Stop for 2 seconds and kick it off to the side of the road.

rex_kramer

I ride past at least half a dozen dead squirrels in different stages of decomposition. No biggie unless you aren't paying attention and happen to run over one of the nicely bloated ones.

trekker pete

Last year I was day dreaming and ran over a rather large cat.

The cat was quite rigormorticized, so it was pretty much like running over a bag of quickrete.

Fortunately the cat was nice enough to die exactly perpendicular to my direction of travel. Anything else and it could have gotten ugly.

Sure glad it wasn't a german shepard.

jharte

Last Fall I was on my way to work on an awesome crisp morning. I saw a dead squirrel in the road and swerved to the right to miss it. At the same time a car went around me on the left. The car ran over the squirrel and shot squirrel juice all over my leg. It took me 20 minutes in the restroom to scrub the squirrel juice off.

Jerry H

sm1960

I avoid looking at the dead things on the road, why put that picture in my memory.

AdamDZ

If it's relatively fresh, you can stop, start some fire... you get my drift? Carry a knife, some salt and pepper with you though.

Adam

2manybikes

Why bother to do anything? As you scan the traffic you should also be scanning the ground for things to go around. Something in the bike path is not important.

surfrider

Its a squirrel, a 'Snickers' bar of the woodlands, just leave it alone and nature will take care of it. To quote Clint Eastwood's Josie Wales - "Buzzards gotta eat . . . worms, too."

Wanderer

With all of the Foxes around here - roadkill is always cleaned up by daylight...................... squirrels, rabbits, possums, racoons, skunks, cats, chipmunks, etc.

It's very unusual to see any rotten roadkill around here.

p.s. lock up your kids after dark.................

no motor?

There was a dead opossum half way in a plastic bag by the side of the road yesterday, still there this morning.

mrleft2000

All summer long I've ridden past the bones of what looks like an adult deer on the bike path. First I saw the knee part of a tibula and then a six segment piece of vertebrae. For weeks I wrestled with the possibility that they might be human bones. Then some more leg bones appeared (they seem to be washing out of the woods) and now I've convinced myself they're of some deer. It takes a long time for big bones to break down.

dcrowell

Squirrel juice? Thanks for the new worry.

chephy

Ride past them. If you choose to ride over them, I would suggest fenders, especially if you ride over ones whose corpses have not yet dried out.

Surely your strategy for survival on the road doesn't resemble the suicide squirrel strategy, does it? As in "oh my god, this thing is coming for me, I'll try to be as unpredictable as possible, so I'll pretend to run away first and swerve then right into its path at the last second, as it's about to change directions to start chasing me!" No? Good, then you should fare better than the squirrels.

Only one? That's pretty rare, actually. I surely pass several on any ride; don't even notice the squirrels any more. Will notice bigger animals (raccoons, cats, skunks). It's a little sad, but I am not going to shed tears over a dead squirrel over the side of the road; if I did, I'd be perpetually depressed, given an abundance of such critters on the streets of the town.

The bodies dry out and decompose fairly quickly.

Cyclist01012

Bunny hopping road kill and horse apples is a sport around here

KenSmith

Don't worry, the squirrel is not dead, he's just sleeping....

thenomad

Not dead but there is a car hose of some sort 1.5 feet long at the fog line of a road I go home on. I'd swerve a little so i always take note of it.
I thought for a while I'd kick it farther away as I ride by but didn't want to take much attention off the narrow road.
Then I thought people would eventually kick it to a new location (lots of kids walking home in that area).
Now I look at it like a familiar face and silently hope it'll go through a whole year in the same exact location. Sort of a little mental competition.

I'm sure when it's gone I'll miss it and think about it as I ride by the spot. It's been 7 months so far.

Dunbar

Last weekend I was distracted by my rear tire (it was rubbing) and ran over a dead squirrels tail. The sun and dry conditions here mummify smaller roadkill pretty fast.

Giant Defiance

Oh of course! I totally forgot about hibernation. Silly me.

Well, I'll be expecting an update in 5 months from now. Good luck little hose. Also, I think you should name it.

JanMM

This time of year, there are lots and lots of raccoons and opossums (and squirrels) resting on our suburban roadways. A dead skunk was in the middle of the road last weekend, stinking to high heaven.

AlmostGreenGuy

I live in Columbia County, NY, the road kill capital of of the world. On any given morning, I can ride by 10 dead squirrels, a dead fox, two dead skunks, 3 dead cats, two dead deer, 5 dead chipmunks, a plethora of dead birds, and a few possums too. It's just wicked, the number of dead animals on the side of Route 9.