On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 22:27:16 GMT, "Crescentius Vespasianus"
<
[email protected]> wrote:
> Does road kill have a cumulative effect over time? Through the years
>I've seen an amazing amount of road kill. A sampling, coyotes, snakes,
>lizards, rabbits, dogs, raccoons, cats, javelinas, deer, cows, a horse,
>other mounds not identified. After a while I noticed this has evolved from
>curiosity, to now depressing. Any opinions?
Dear CV,
If you see enough road kill, you might find it increasingly
depressing, or simply become hardened to it.
I was depressed all out of proportion a few days ago when I noticed
something while I was walking deep in the city park with my dog.
The pattern was familiar, so I picked it up, and yes, it was a chunk
of box turtle, part of the back shell and a leg. A mower must have hit
the poor thing.
Since it was so out of place, it was startling.
Snakes, on the other hand, perish regularly on the highways around
here, and most people become hardened to it.
In terms of evolution, it will probably lead to shorter snakes, since
they have a better chance of slithering across the road without being
hit by tires.
To drag it all back to bicycles, enough bicycles on the paths around
here should change the balance between the bullsnakes and the garter
snakes, since the bullsnakes are hit more often because they simply go
limp and hope not to be noticed, while the garter snakes wriggle off
frantically and survive.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel