To find roadkill so upsetting?

[Wickerwillow]

We live in a semi-rural location (think village, but a short drive to some major towns). Every day on my commute to work I drive past fresh corpses at the side of the road belonging to some of the most exquisite animals.

Absolutely beautiful deer with their large, dark eyes who've taken an ill-timed chance to cross the road. Yesterday a bushy-tailed fox, the most perfect colour of burnt-amber just cast to one side and left to rot away in the mud. The other day I even saw an otter! My first sighting of a wild otter in quite a few years and it had already lost it's life to a car :(

I've always been an animal lover so I take the decline of our wildlife to heart and admit perhaps I am a little more sentimental about it than most. But does anyone else feel so sad to see such casual loss-of-life on a daily basis? I can't help but feel it we took more efforts to avoid building major roads across the natural habitats of these beautiful animals the death-toll could be much improved. Then there's our treatment of others animals. Travellers putting their working horses in traps and forcing them to go full pelt down the duel carriageway on a Sunday with cars whizzing past (we see this regularly where I live. It makes me furious). Animal tourism. Donkeys and mules being forced to carry lazy tourists up hillsides in Greece to sightsee.

Sometimes I feel like humans are the only ugly creatures on this planet.

I remember going to work with DM for a summer job. Every day there were multiple carcasses. Weirdly we never got desensitized to it, was really grim.

I agree that we shouldn't be going further into the habitats of wildlife.

I consol myself by telling myself that the ones that die wouldn't have survived long in the wild. The most intelligent and adaptable ones should be the ones passing on their genetics.

I hate animal cruelty but often, in other Countries its a lack of knowledge or a need to survive.

I'm with you OP. I volunteer for The Fox Project and every time I drive there for my shift (I live 50 miles away from the wildlife hospital which is in the middle of a forest in rural Kent), I see multiple dead foxes on/by the road plus birds and other smaller roadkill. It brings tears to my eyes each time. It's just so tragic.

I attended the Animal Aid Christmas Fayre at Kensington Town Hall yesterday and it was reassuring to see the huge turn-out of animal lovers who are all doing what they can to help. But also there were sad stories such as the culling of animals carried out by the Royal Parks.

I too feel sad, sad for every living thing that loses a life, but I turn my thoughts around when I see these dear creatures at the side of the road...and try and see it as evidence that wildlife is here, it is around and thriving.

I like to think that if there is one dead fox, there might be another family of them living safely close by. xx

It's the squirrels that get me if they have been killed but not squished they have such suprised faces and usually clasped hands I try not to look

Dead badgers by the side of the road make me sad as I've never seen one alive in the wild.

I feel the same. My urge to stop the car and put their bodies somewhere safe is massive.
It upsets me immensely when I see someone driving over an already dead animal.

Living and working in ruralish area a while back, driving to work one crack of dawn, came across a deer in road. Not a visible mark on it, but dead. I stopped and pulled it to the side of the road. Full, open dark eyes, a sleek beautiful animal. Bloody heartbreaking. Just pointless.

Even worse - I read on a thread here that some of these animals at the side of the road are actually dumped after illegal baiting and fighting.
Easier to pass off as a roadkill than a mangled body in a field arousing suspicion maybe

I just read an article about a new virtual fence that’s been invented, to protect wildlife from cars at night. Maybe there’s hope. I too feel so sad when I see roadkill - just a reminder of how destructive humans are. I just feel so bad that these creatures would still be living if it weren’t for us. It’s the Animals of Farthing Wood all over again!

Honestly living in Texas has really made me not worry about it too much as it’s just such a frequent occurrence. There’s no way to not build roads where they live as there are already towns and people living there. Yes it can be sad to see but it’s honestly such a small percentage that it has little consequence and there’s no way around it, plus thankfully their deaths are almost always instant and painless. I know this may sound harsh but there’s no point working yourself up about it when there’s no way to change it.

Aww YANBU, I feel the same. Just hate to see foxes and badgers especially, so upsetting.

Especially when it's the only time you see an animal when they are dead by the side of the road. I honestly never knew badgers were that big and foxes so small.
I had a deer run out in front of me the other night. Lucky I managed to stop in time.

I live in a similar area. Even though they clean things up quickly, this time of year there is always at least a few.

I try to remind myself that we actually have an overpopulation problem because of predator loss so there have been culls to prevent starvation. The roadkill helps cut down on how many have to be put down.

You are all too sentimental. Roadkill is a useful indicator of animal population. The more roadkill, the bigger the local population of that animal.

I live in Cornwall, and I see a dead badger or fox on most days. Squirrels and rabbits too. All these have thriving local populations.

I can't remember the last time I saw a dead hedgehog, whose numbers are in terrible decline.

It’s a shame; but on the bright side, roadkill often becomes a welcome meal for something else. And populations of many wild animals in the UK are in the rise due to more sustainable management of farmland - deer populations are the highest they’ve been in centuries: good and bad, depending on your perspective.

The way to prevent animal cruelty in the developing world is to invest education and resources into helping people understand that a well-treated animal is worth more to them than an ill-treated one. It’s all very well to hand-wring when your livelihood doesn’t depend on an animal’s work.

Yanbu...roads suck.

I live very rurally
I am always ranting about drivers leaving animals for dead
I take a large amount of casualties to places such as Tiggywinkles
I always stop to check for a pulse, If an animal is dying slowly in pain it deserved to be put out of its misery. But some I've rescued have been saved / rehabilitated
I have actually seen drivers hit animals and drive off. I now drive slowly down the local lanes daily scanning the ditches and roadsides , at the moment am trying to capture an injured muntjac , the trouble is I can't call anyone out as it's never in a specific location
Please, people, check the casualty if it's not obvious that it's dead... don't leave it to suffer . Eg I rescued a huge crow that had been hit and was left with broken hips. It was just left flapping at roadside. Its death could have been very drawn out. It couldn't be saved and was euthanised which was the kindest thing.
I always check badgers and deers to check if they are still warm and for a pulse.
I've had squirrels , rabbits, many birds all saved and made it. (Tiggys is able to rescue squirrels..one of the few places that don't have to destroy them)
I cannot understand the mentality of someone that can hit an animal in a country lane and just leave it there to die

Also I move the dead bodies out of the road. Massively disrespectful to be driving over it.
And please don't say all have a quick death.
i rescued a squirrel with a head injury from the centre of the road, about ten more cars drove over it (without hitting it) before I could get to it.
So so wrong when it was obviously alive and moving.
The muntjac I mentioned above.. two crooked back legs, can't walk properly, obviously a road victim.. imagine the suffering... a quick death is preferable to terrible injuries that they survive and suffer.. don't kid yourself it's always quick death

And before people say I'm too sentimental... nope, I live rurally , I know the harshness of nature and I've worked for the RSPCA , but I can't bear to see unnecessary suffering or disrespect

Yeah I always feel sad to see dead animals lying on the side of the road. I don't there is much that can be done really though whether it's on a country lane or an inner city Road nature gets runover sadly

What really upsets me is seeing lorries full of animals on the way to the slaughter house, there is one in the next town and I have lost count the amount of times I have been behind one of these lorries on my way to work, it breaks my heart. I get what you say about road kill as well, dead hedgehogs really upset me as they are dying out at a rapid rate.

I had 2 beautiful young foxes visiting the garden last year, the older one, I assumed to be the vixen vanished. One of the youngsters was bold and friendly, a cheeky little thing and would eat the stuff I put out for the birds, gradually kept coming closer and wan't afraid of us. So I stopped putting food out.

Then they vanished too, not seen them at all this year, not a fox in sight. However the other day there was a corpse in the next road, and I couldn't help wondering if it was one of the youngsters but I suspect someone had them done away with last year.

I absolutely loathe seeing all the poor little bodies broken and squashed at the side and in the centre of roads, owls, hedgehogs that people may have rescued and released, little lives wasted, deer, badgers, rabbits and pheasants, so stupid, they run at cars. I once got out of the car to move a group of young pheasants out of the middle of the road. What is even worse is that people drive into them on purpose. They do it to people's pets too. It is going to be much worse with the new cars because they don't hear electric cars.

What a lovely and kind thing to do alltoomuchrightnow people like you restore my faith in human nature.

I live rurally too. I saw a dead deer, one of those little ones, a few days ago. I manage to stop for pigeons, I cannot understand why people cannot stop in time.