The Road/Wildlife Problem - Jonas Miller

 During my time at CNU I stumbled upon a study focused on the human response to hitting an animal with one's car. Unfortunately, I believe this is something we can all relate to. Early in my driving career I turned a corner on a dark country backroad and completely smoked a poor fawn, who was totally unaware of the danger I posed. It upset me, but at the same time there was little I could do. Since then, I believe I may have hit a groundhog, a bird, and a squirrel or two. The only taxa I can confidently say I've never hit is the herpetofauna. Ever since I was a kid in my parent's car, I've been dead set on getting the turtle or snake out of the road. 

Frustratingly, the aforementioned study by Crawford and Andrews found that the general public, at least the visitors to a state park in GA, seem significantly less considered about reptilian collisions. In fact, out of the 10 animals included in their survey, snakes scored the lowest concern rating by far. Next in line was squirrels, then turtles. In my own personal experience, I have witnessed what certainly appeared to be a driver swerving out of their way to strike a young black rat snake with their car. 

Putting whatever fundamentally twisted part of the human psyche that causes such ignorance aside, it is of paramount importance that we figure out how to improve our roadways for the safety of animals. Features such as land bridges are great for larger mammals, however, smaller animals like herpetofauna have a small migratory range and would require an absurd number of land bridges to be successful. The authors suggest culvert-like tunnels under roads, with basic fencing features along roads to funnel animals into them. While that is a great option, it would require a lot of funding and time to implement on preexisting roads. It's ultimately up to the public to stand up for these animals and fight the persecution they endure when coming into contact with human kind. 

 Crawford, B. A. and K. M. Andrews. 2016. Drivers' attitudes toward wildlife-vehicle collisions with reptiles and other taxa. Animal Conservation 19(5): 440-450.

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