American Roadkill

Slaughtered along our highways, roadkill may be observed regularly, but aren’t likely to be given much thought. Research scientists, animal rights activists, roadkill artists, writers, ethicists and lyricists, however, are increasingly sounding the alarm. They report that we are killing the very animals we love, and are driving many of them to the brink of extinction. Detailing the death and destruction of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insect pollinators, this study examines the ways in which we are thus jeopardizing our own futures.

Beginning in the Model T era, biologists counted the common carnage of the time—cottontails, woodchucks, and squirrels, mostly. That record-keeping continues today. Beyond the bleak statistics, zoologists are rerouting migratory paths of animals and are advocating for cat and dog companions. This book illuminates both our successes and failures in keeping animals out of harm’s way and what those efforts reflect about ourselves and our capacity to care enough to alter the road ahead.

Don H. Corrigan is the editor emeritus for the Webster-Kirkwood Times weekly newspapers in St. Louis, where he has written on the outdoors and environment for four decades. He is a professor emeritus of Webster University, where he directed student studies for the school’s Outdoor/Environmental Journalism Certificate. He lives in St. Louis.

Don H. Corrigan
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 250
Bibliographic Info: 38 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8443-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4482-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Skunks: Stinkin’ American Roadkill 5
2. Pulverized Possums on Pavement 17
3. Not Enough Room for Rocky Raccoon 29
4. Countdown to a Squirrel Apocalypse 40
5. Crashes Crumple Crossing Cottontails 51
6. Bad Mix: Turtles and Tire Treads 64
7. Hopping Mad Over Roadkill Frogs 75
8. Snake Mistakes: Rattled and Rolled 86
9. Amarillo’s Armadillos Have Arrived 97
10. Roadkill’s Winged Creatures 107
11. ­Doe-Eyed, Dangerous and Deadly 118
12. Roadkill Canines: Fur Cryin’ Out Loud 129
13. Bullwinkle’s Last Stand 140
14. Florida’s Pummeled Panthers 151
15. Wayward Bears: Barely a Chance 162
16. Roadkill: Man’s Best Friends 173
17. Roadkill: Words, Art, Music and Dining 184
18. Postscript: Animals’ Lives Matter 194
Chapter Notes 205
Bibliography 221
Index 235