Roadkill

[belairman]

Squished on the road, I see rabbits, hedgehogs, field mice, foxes, pigeons, magpies, pheasants, the occasional badger, and increasingly large numbers of rats. I do cylce a lot of back lanes through farmland.

Also saw a very large bird, with red striped wings, feasting on a carcass once, but it flew away before we got close. It was then attacked in mid-air by a kestrel. Never did find out what it was.

Deer can be a problem in Sherwood Forest, near Clumber Park, a colleague of my father's once hit one in his Ford Granada (built like tanks, remember them?) he was okay, but it was all over for the deer, and the car.

Hey ho

 

[Graham O]

Also got a rural commute and often see flat animals. Unfortunately none of them are cookers. Once saw a hare hit and killed. Took it home and very tasty! Last year in Dorset, saw a fresh roe deer carcass at the side of the road. I could fit it on the bike, but too big for a 40 mile ride home, so had to leave it.

What happens if you mix a BMW and a deer?

http://www.unclebloodycolin.com/project/driver-hit-a-deer/

Don't look if you are squeamish.

 

[J4CKO]

I was partly responsible for a Fox getting run over, was walking the dog, he popped his head out, saw us ans skedaddled, into the path of a LWB Transit doing about double the posted limit, totally dead, Transit driver did not stop and he couldnt have know it was a Fox I reckon he thought he had hit the Dog, the Dog was excited she didnt know whether to play with it, fight it, shag it or eat it !

I just lobbed it over the hedge.

 

[gbb]

As an Ecologist I say; Density dependant, plenty more where that one came from...



What a load of B*ll*ck, magpies and songbirds are co-evolved, what is killing all the songbirds off is land use change and invasive alien predators (grey squirrels)...

Pastly true, in the same way some say the Sparrowhawk is responsible for the downturn in songbird populations, (Sparrowhawk populations are dependent on good songbird populations. If they kill too many, their own numbers decline accordingly)....but there are significant differences.

Sparrowhawks by nature are hunters, and some of their prey escapes. They take birds on the wing which of course means they are adult (or young birds) that have had a chance to breed and increase the population.

Also Sparrowhawks depend entirely on their prey. If the prey population declines, inevitably so do the sparrowhawk. Magpies are opportunists. They're not effected by prey population crashes so much...they have a much wider range of food available (carrion etc)...so any effect of a crash makes the situation worse.

Magpies are intelligent birds. They survey their territory and will monitor other birds nesting, then rob the nests before the young have fledged. They never get the chance to breed and a lot of the parents efforts are in vain.

If you take Magpies impact on a population, it will be more sever than Sparrowhawks. Also, it's generally accepted the Magpie populations have flourished. At 50 years plus, always having lived in the country, i NEVER saw a Magpie until 20 years ago, and i've always been interested in birds. They're everywhere now.....i see families of 4 or 6 every all the way round Peterborough every day. You'll rarely see a Sparrowhawk. In simple terms, they have to negatively impact on other birds.

Anyway....the most impressive i saw was a deer carcass at the side of the road....bloomin massive it was. Gawld knows what damage it did to the car it hit.
The most unusual (although they're not a rarity)..was a grass snake on a country road.
The most unbelieveable was a dead roach....in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere

 

[CharlieB]

Also saw a very large bird, with red striped wings, feasting on a carcass once, but it flew away before we got close. It was then attacked in mid-air by a kestrel. Never did find out what it was.

That's a Red Kite…

 

[HJ]

I come back to the point that magpies and songbirds are co-evolved, yes magpies can and do prey switch, but the biggest impact has come from land use change and the introduction of an omnivorous invasive alien predator: grey squirrel. Songbird clutch sizes are evolved to allow for a certain level of predation, introduce an extra predator and it is bound to impact on population size.

The most unbelieveable was a dead roach....in the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere

Dropped by an osprey on migration?

And before anyone suggest that the osprey carried it all the way from it breading site in the north, no, they do stop off to feed on their migration.

Or droped by a heron, then again herons don't usually carry prey in their beaks, so probably not...

 

[ingenuitylee]

Riding home from Hyde up the A57 a few weeks ago treated me to a freshly squished squirrel to dodge, a flat hedghog and then worst of all a faeces filled nappy that someone had thrown from a car window. nice.

 

[jonny jeez]

you think someone's controlling numbers by running them over?

LOL

 

[nickp]

If you take Magpies impact on a population, it will be more sever than Sparrowhawks. Also, it's generally accepted the Magpie populations have flourished. At 50 years plus, always having lived in the country, i NEVER saw a Magpie until 20 years ago, and i've always been interested in birds. They're everywhere now.....i see families of 4 or 6 every all the way round Peterborough every day. You'll rarely see a Sparrowhawk. In simple terms, they have to negatively impact on other birds.

The negative affect on songbirds by magpies is miniscule, they reason songbirds are declining is the change in farming practices and insectacide usage.

 

[gbb]

The negative affect on songbirds by magpies is miniscule, they reason songbirds are declining is the change in farming practices and insectacide usage.

Oh i agree wholeheartedly. But it doesnt change the Magpies impact on a population.
In the whole scheme of things, a declining population is put under even further pressure by magpies whose populations have grown enormously compared with 20 years ago.
Anyway...dont think i'm rabidly anti magpie . They have their place, but it's a shame they predate nestlings and put further pressure on already declining species. Bugger it...hijacked the thread long enough.

 

[gbb]

I come back to the point that magpies and songbirds are co-evolved, yes magpies can and do prey switch, but the biggest impact has come from land use change and the introduction of an omnivorous invasive alien predator: grey squirrel. Songbird clutch sizes are evolved to allow for a certain level of predation, introduce an extra predator and it is bound to impact on population size.



Dropped by an osprey on migration?

And before anyone suggest that the osprey carried it all the way from it breading site in the north, no, they do stop off to feed on their migration.

Or droped by a heron, then again herons don't usually carry prey in their beaks, so probably not...

Quite likely. I have seen an osprey en ride, actually it was about 5 miles from where i saw the fish (on a different occasion). It was sat in a tree, you could clearly see the very distinctive white 'boots'. They breed at Rutland Water (about 20 or 30 miles from me)...and they have been seen high above Peterborough en route to the Nene Washes.
Either that, or it was probably a heron....or a lazy angler on his way home

 

[gbb]

I once saw a hare that's been (i assume) squished by a lorry. It's guts were strewn all over the place....20 or 30 yards away . it must have exploded like a bomb on impact

It's often occured to me that as i approach some juicy roadkill....gawld, i hope that car coming up behind doesnt hit it just as i'm beside it. I think i'd hurl if i got covered in innards.
You'll all think the same now, having read that

 

[Crankarm]

If it's freshly killed and in good nick I pick it up and take it home. Pheasants and rabbit are both tasty. Although I haven't eaten squirrel, hedgehog, rat or cat. I do draw the line somewhere.

 

[HJ]

A uni friend used to make what he called garden pie, which consisted of anything which he had been shoot in the garden, mostly pheasant and rabbit but also squirrel. He reccond that squirrel was good eating...

 

[Cubist]

A uni friend used to make what he called garden pie, which consisted of anything which he had been shoot in the garden, mostly pheasant and rabbit but also squirrel. He reccond that squirrel was good eating...

Squirrel is indeed tasty, but can be tough.