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Australian Fence of Sound Halves Roadkill On One Deadly Stretch of Road (digitaltrends.com)
Researchers in the Australian state of Tasmania are using a "virtual fence" system, consisting of alarm units mounted on posts along the side of a three-mile stretch of road, to reduce the number animals that get struck and killed by cars on a particularly deadly stretch of road. "These alarm units, around 80 feet apart, emit sounds and flashing lights to warn animals when a car is approaching," reports Digital Trends. "These do not distract drivers because the sound and light are directed to the edge of the road. They are also only loud and bright enough to be noticeable to wildlife in the immediate vicinity." From the report: "The virtual fence technology involves small devices, approximately the size of a mobile phone, mounted on a pole on the side of the road which are triggered by car headlights when they hit a sensor in the device," Samantha Fox, the researcher who led the project, told Digital Trends. "This sets off blue and yellow flashing lights and a high pitched siren. These together warn local wildlife that a car is coming, and give the animal time to move away from the road." Over the course of a three-year trial, the technology has reduced roadkill on one particular road by a massive 50 percent. On this stretch of road alone, this has meant saving the lives of around 200 animals, ranging from wombats to possums.
Why does slashdot link to a paywall, and "digitasltrends" crap?
Here is a proper link. This program is not for the wombats and possums, but for the endangered Tasmanian devils that feed on their carcasses.
https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/wild...
they are awful to hit, Kangaroos have such a low center of gravity they do a lot of damage unless you have a bulbar (even then that doesn't always help, last year a big 7 footer bent his bulbar back into the bonnet). Wombats (or walking rocks as we refer to them) can also do huge damage.
A big problem with roadkill in Tasmania is that Tasmanian devils are attracted to the carcasses. As they feed on the roadkill, they are nearly oblivious to oncoming traffic. You might think this will exert evolutionary pressure for them to become less stupid, but that doesn't work because they are few in number and have very little genetic variety. The are all nearly identical twins of each other. So similar that cancer cells can be transmitted directly between individuals with no immune rejection.
Tasmanian devil road mortality
Americans are familiar with Tasmanian devils mainly through Taz, an occasional character in the Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Hour. Why don't they make quality TV like that anymore?