Dead Fox

[steve_b_wales]

On the way to work yesterday morning at 06:30, there was a dead fox on the dual carriageway. It didn't appear to have been there long, as it wasn't 'squashed'. If I could have stopped, I would have picked it up and put it by the hedgerow on the side of the road. It was small, probably last years Vixen cub. I passed the are a few hours later, and it was completely flat! It's a shame because even though I control foxes for local farmers, it was sad to see that this one ended it's life in such a way. Also, it was an urban fox, as the road was a mile away from the city of Cardiff. 

[Rob85]

Some people think I sound silly as I have shot foxes, rabbits, pheasants etc but I REALLY hate seeing then flattened into the road, and I feel awful if I'm the one that hits them.

[JKD]

I see many every year down here in the SE. All in the many stages of being dead/squished/partly flattened after being in collision with motor vehicles. This could be outside a school in the middle of town, to the edges and middle of dual carriageways/motorways. The only time it looked bad, or I even thought about it, was one that was 'splattered' right on a crossing outside a girl's school in Blackfen. The council guys quickly removed the mess 😣

The only time I get upset is seeing dead badgers on the roads 😞

[Rob85]

1 minute ago, JKD said:

I see many every year down here in the SE. All in the many stages of being dead/squished/partly flattened after being in collision with motor vehicles. This could be outside a school in the middle of town, to the edges and middle of dual carriageways/motorways. The only time it looked bad, or I even thought about it, was one that was 'splattered' right on a crossing outside a girl's school in Blackfen. The council guys quickly removed the mess 😣

The only time I get upset is seeing dead badgers on the roads 😞

Dead badgers seems to be all there is around my way the last few years...more so even than rabbit pancakes, there's just too many of them, a flattened fox seems to be quite rare now

[London Best]

I always think a road death is a sad end for any animal. 

[twenty]

Hedgehogs are the saddest sight to see as roadkill, I am sure some drivers could avoid them, if they travelled at the correct speed for suburban roads,(30mph).

[London Best]

2 minutes ago, twenty said:

Hedgehogs are the saddest sight to see as roadkill, I am sure some drivers could avoid them, if they travelled at the correct speed for suburban roads,(30mph).

There was one dead on our road on Tuesday morning. Poor little beggar had probably just woken up from four months sleep.

[Vince Green]

12 minutes ago, JKD said:

 

The only time I get upset is seeing dead badgers on the roads 😞

Lots of road kill badgers in Cornwall

[twenty]

Just now, London Best said:

There was one dead on our road on Tuesday morning. Poor little beggar had probably just woken up from four months sleep.

Yeah that's what i'm saying,.......to be fair they normally roll up when caught in the headlights, so surely they could be avoided......although boy racers wouldn't care either way.........and yes i know sometimes they just shoot out into the road unexpectedly, and that these are probably unavoidable casualties.

[JKD]

1 minute ago, Vince Green said:

Lots of road kill badgers in Cornwall

I mainly see dead badgers in Kent, but occasionally in some surprising places in the outskirts of SE London.

Not being blasé, but if you drive a vehicle you can't dwell too much about roadkill 😕

[London Best]

A friend once arrived at my house and said he had just done his good deed for the day. Coming up my road he had rescued a hedgehog with it’s nose jammed in an empty dog food tin blindly trying to climb the kerb on to the pavement.

[Vince Green]

7 minutes ago, twenty said:

Yeah that's what i'm saying,.......to be fair they normally roll up when caught in the headlights, so surely they could be avoided......although boy racers wouldn't care either way.........and yes i know sometimes they just shoot out into the road unexpectedly, and that these are probably unavoidable casualties.

When I was doing an advanced driving course for work years ago, one of the things I remember getting told was never attempt to avoid an animal on the road. Let them worry about getting themselves out of your way.

Too many serious accidents have been caused by people swerving and losing control to miss a rabbit

Edited April 2, 2021 by Vince Green

[twenty]

Reminds me of the joke about the Mother Hedgehog, who told her youngsters to roll up into a ball if a car comes along the road, and that they would be avoided as the driver will miss you between the front wheels...................then a Reliant Robin came down the road.

[tonker]

9 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

When I was doing an advanced driving course for work years ago, one of the things I remember getting told was never attempt to avoid an animal on the road. Let them worry about getting themselves out of your way.

Too many serious accidents have been caused by people swerving and losing control to miss a rabbit

Natural reaction though isn't it. see something out of the corner of your eye and you try to take avoiding action. Not saying it's right though just natural.

Try ignoring a Badger on a Motor bike I know who'll come off worse.Come off being the operative word here. lol ( and I know first hand).

Edited April 2, 2021 by tonker

[twenty]

6 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

When I was doing an advanced driving course for work years ago, one of the things I remember getting told was never attempt to avoid an animal on the road. Let them worry about getting themselves out of your way.

Too many serious accidents have been caused by people swerving and losing control to miss a rabbit

Not at night, at 30mph on suburban roads,..........you just slow down slightly

[wymberley]

13 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

Lots of road kill badgers in Cornwall

Ain't that a fact. My job was to assess whether or not they were fit for autopsy and then bag 'em and tag 'em. If not fit, you'd contact the district council with the location for them to collect. If they were then you'd take them to the local veterinary laboratory. There would be the local 'hot spots' which during the holiday season would be the visitors driving back to their accommodation in the evening after a day out. Unless, of course you had 5 chucked over a wall at Geevor Mine which were something else. Unfortunately, all I ended up with was some photo's - having raced all the way down from Dorset way I arrived just in time to see the dust cart driving away with them in the back.

[CaptC]

22 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

Lots of road kill badgers in Cornwall

Not all of them with tyre marks either! Very sad to see hedgehogs flattened as they tend to stick to the tyres on hot days

[Eyefor]

22 minutes ago, twenty said:

Reminds me of the joke about the Mother Hedgehog, who told her youngsters to roll up into a ball if a car comes along the road, and that they would be avoided as the driver will miss you between the front wheels...................then a Reliant Robin came down the road.

When I first heard that, it was about rabbits & the unfortunate youngster was called "Lucky".

[twenty]

3 minutes ago, Eyefor said:

When I first heard that, it was about rabbits & the unfortunate youngster was called "Lucky".

And the off road Robin Reliant............the 3X3

[Rob85]

53 minutes ago, tonker said:

Natural reaction though isn't it. see something out of the corner of your eye and you try to take avoiding action. Not saying it's right though just natural.

Try ignoring a Badger on a Motor bike I know who'll come off worse.Come off being the operative word here. lol ( and I know first hand).

Try ignoring a badger even in a car..... fella I know hit one and he said it was like driving into a breeze block. It done £1200 of damage to the front of his car, more than just a bumper required!

[Bobba]

1 hour ago, wymberley said:

Ain't that a fact. My job was to assess whether or not they were fit for autopsy and then bag 'em and tag 'em........... If they were then you'd take them to the local veterinary laboratory. 

Did any of the autopsies ever identify any badgers shot first then flattened afterwards?

[London Best]

11 minutes ago, Bobba said:

Did any of the autopsies ever identify any badgers shot first then flattened afterwards?

Surely that would be difficult if said Badger was fifteen feet across and two thou’ thick?

[Rewulf]

2 hours ago, Vince Green said:

Lots of road kill badgers in Cornwall

Estimated 50000 a year killed on the roads, a number directly relatable to their increasing numbers overall, despite the culls.

We even have 'urban' badgers now.

The protected status of badgers needs suspending, its utter madness.

[wymberley]

43 minutes ago, Bobba said:

Did any of the autopsies ever identify any badgers shot first then flattened afterwards?

The nature of the study was such that the results of the autopsy only went 'up the ladder' and as such was above my pay grade. For a couple of reasons and although dead, the carcass had to be in a reasonable condition for autopsy and I think I would have spotted something amiss with those. I only ever came across one which was on a track which I suspect was only ever used once a fortnight judging by the state the carcass was in. Besides, it's not a clever idea to mess about with these - it's better if you can keep what's in the lungs where it is and not have it expelled by excessive handling.

[steve_b_wales]

5 hours ago, Rob85 said:

Some people think I sound silly as I have shot foxes, rabbits, pheasants etc but I REALLY hate seeing then flattened into the road, and I feel awful if I'm the one that hits them.

I've never actually run over a live fox. I have hit a few rabbits on country lanes though, and also a pheasant. There'll be many young fox cubs dead on the road soon. One particular dual carriageway near me, goes through a few fields, with hedgerows etc either side. It's common to see 3-4 cubs dead very near each other. I think it's said that only one out of five cubs reach adulthood.