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The Science of Roadkill
Hugh Pickens writes "Sarah Harris writes that roadkill may not be glamorous, but wildlife ecologist Danielle Garneau says dead critters carry lots of valuable information providing an opportunity to learn about wildlife and pinpoint migratory patterns, invasive species, and predatory patterns. 'We're looking at a fine scale at patterns of animal movement — maybe we can pick up migratory patterns, maybe we can see a phenology change,' says Garneau. 'And also, in the long term, if many of these animals are threatened or they're in a decline, the hope would be that we could share this information with people who could make changes.' Garneau turns students out into the world to find dead animals, document them and collect the data using a smartphone app RoadkillGarneau and she has already received data from across New York, as well as Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida and Colorado. Participants take photos of the road kill, and the app uploads them through EpiCollect, which pinpoints the find on the map. Participants can then update the data to include any descriptors of the animal such as its species; sex; how long the dead animal had been there; if and when it was removed; the weather conditions; and any predators around it. 'People talk a lot about technology cutting us off from nature,' says Garneau. 'But I found that with the road kill project, it's the opposite. You really engage with the world around you — even if it is a smelly skunk decaying on the side of the road.'"
do they put the deer crossing signs on such busy highways??
Thems good eats!
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
my gf is a biologist and had a job for a while riding a bike 30km a day examining road kill for surveys.. Possibly the data went to this project.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects/epicollect/roadkillgarneau-on-the-epicollect-smartphone-app/
"To upload data without a smartphone please visit:
https://sites.google.com/site/daniellegarneau/home/smartphone-apps-for-wildlife-observations"
I don't know if all those students have smartphones, but I know not every person in "first world" countries has a cell phone. I still have a "dumb" phone. I'm not sure if I'm even interested in one. I don't know if I want to be "that" connected all the time.
Flattened Fauna. It's both hilarious and fascinating. At first I thought it was just a joke, but actually it's pretty insightful. I particularly liked the discussion about the 3D->2D transformation of the critters. Gruesome and technical.
Students, if you are driving, it is important to STOP THE CAR before attempting to photograph the road kill. (It should go without saying, but with all due respect to the smart teenagers, 50% of all teenagers are below average.)
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Isn't that just the edge of the road? Or is it how far across they made it?
Why didn't the chicken cross the road?
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
"Flattened Fauna" is an older book by Ten Speed Press. The subtitle of the revised edition is, "A Field Guide to Common Animals of Roads, Streets, and Highways." One of the more amusing notes is that unlike most guides that list the type of camera used to take the photos, this book lists the type of copier.
They also don't make no bad casserole, I reckon.
Yeah, there's some science to it, but not always.
I know of a business that involves teams of a couple of guys in vans roaming areas of the country doing repair services.
I happen to KNOW that one of these teams hit an armadillo in TX, and, in a creative fit of boredom, threw it in their cooler with ice and headed on their northern circuit. The next day, in Michigan, they dumped it out beside the road....I'm nearly certain some state biologist in MI got to spend weeks studying the invasion of armadillos.
(Now, that story has become a lot grimmer with the suggestion that handling armadillos - and probably, throwing it in your lunch cooler with your pop cans & sandwiches - may transmit leprosy...)
-Styopa
Bestiality and necrophilia at the same time.
We never used to see armadillos here in southwest Missouri, but around 7-10 years ago I started seeing dead ones on the highway.
Global warming is why they're migrating north, no doubt.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
I've always wondered why, if natural selection was such a powerful force in evolution, we still have road kill. Seems to me that genes causing an animal to stay away from roads would be selected for and dominant within a relatively small number of generations.
"Written on the pages is the answer to the never ending story..."
And also, in the long term, if many of these animals are threatened or they're in a decline, the hope would be that we could share this information with people who could make changes
relevant
Oh crap! You were so young!
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
Tire manufacturers could potentially examine the roadkill photographs and extrapolate tread wear data from it! Also, this: http://www.route66seligmanarizona.com/The_Roadkill_Cafe.php
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.ac.imperial.epi_collect&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsInVrLmFjLmltcGVyaWFsLmVwaV9jb2xsZWN0Il0.
> Participants can then update the data to include any descriptors of the animal such as its species; sex;
It asks them to report whether they had sex with it?
I think I smell an IgNobel Prize in the offing...
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
every submitted picture is of some frat boy's butt hole or trouser snake?
Anyone else think that the extremely low (read zero) bigfoot roadkill count might be indicative of similarly low (also read zero) bigfoot population? Just wondering.
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Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
Dead deer on roadside
Nobody is looking now
Venison tonight