The old cliché about death and taxes—life's only two certainties—can be modified and applied to the wildlife that cross our nation's roads: Every street and highway that bisects wildlife habitat exacts an unofficial tax for its use—the deaths of millions of animals, particularly during the spring season.
Spring is breeding season, when the urge to mate results in more animals on the move. In many areas of the country, a sure sign that winter has finally melted away is not just the swelling buds of skunk cabbage, but also the broken bodies of skunks, foxes, and millions upon millions of other animals who come up short in their attempt to cross the road in search of food or a mate.
Quantifying this spring carnage is difficult, because exact numbers are hard to come by. Earlier this year, a spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department told the Associated Press that an estimated 14,000 migrating Wyoming Range mule deer cross Highway 30 during the spring (as well as the fall). Multiply that 14,000 figure (or even a tiny fraction of that figure if you'd prefer a more conservative population number) by dozens of species and then factor in the countless number of possible crossing points along America's 3.9 million miles of roads, and you literally have billions of potential collisions between vehicle and animal.
That's why animal protection organizations and even the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) can only guess at the annual animal carnage on our nation's roads. "Millions of vertebrates—birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians—are killed every year by vehicles traveling on America's roads," noted the FHA in its report, Critter Crossings: Linking Habitats and Reducing Roadkill.
All these roads also threaten species in less obvious ways. Highways, streets, avenues, interstates—whatever you want to call them—often slice up wildlife habitats, leaving animals with fewer areas to forage, roam and mate. If a highway actually prevents one population of animals from mating with other populations of its species, the isolated group could literally become genetically inferior.
"When highways 'fragment' landscapes, they divide wildlife populations into smaller, more isolated units," the FHA wrote in its report. "Smaller populations are less stable and, over time, face extinction from predators or natural causes. They may also be more susceptible to inbreeding and to genetic defects."
If anyone deserves a tax break this year, it would be the wild animals who cross our endless ribbons of asphalt and concrete.
Building Bridges...And Underpasses
Fortunately, the impact of roads on wildlife and the environment is attracting increased attention from the scientific and transportation communities, even from lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
A new branch of science, "road ecology," has sprung up in recent years, with a landmark book by that name released in 2003. And for the first time ever, Congress is considering including provisions in transportation law that would require states to plan not only roads, but also ways for wildlife to safely cross them.
Yet, even without a federal mandate, state and local governments (not to mention regular citizens) are already developing solutions to wildlife and roads. In the aforementioned mule deer example, Wyoming Department of Transportation officials installed a $400,000 wildlife underpass along Highway 30 (a stretch of roadway that lies along the animals' migratory path) as well as about eight miles of fencing to funnel the deer to the crossing point. Because officials experimented to determine what size of underpass the mule deer favor (20 feet wide and 8 feet tall), the state now has a structure that moves between 1,500-2,000 deer though it annually, saving countless animals.
Want more evidence of our rising consciousness on this issue? How about:
- In 2003, a group of Cornell University volunteers constructed a toad passage under a road in the college arboretum to prevent the decimation of local amphibian populations during their mass migration to spring breeding ponds.
- Migrating salamanders in Amherst, Massachusetts, use similar tunnels to reach breeding pools. The town has posted a "Watch Out for Salamanders" sign to slow down motorists.
- An activist in Pennsylvania is recruiting volunteers to help her carry salamanders and toads across a busy road during their spring migration; she is also working with transportation and other local officials to close the road during the few evening hours a year that can mean a difference between life or death for these populations.
- Projects on a much grander scale are under way in Arizona, Montana, California, Washington, Vermont, Florida, and other states to provide wildlife—the large and the small —with safe passage across the roads in their habitats.
"All of this comes not a minute too soon, as more acreage succumbs to development and new roads carve up once unbroken tracts of land," says Susan Hagood, a Wildlife Issues specialist for The HSUS. "These efforts can't make up for the millions of animals who have already died, but perhaps they can make some difference to the populations that are currently isolated and in constant danger of coming face to bumper with an oncoming car."
Don't Be a Road Hog
Individuals can also play a role in protecting wild animals who wander near our roads and highways, Hagood notes. Wildlife would be helped immeasurably if drivers would keep these tips in mind:
- Be especially watchful for wildlife at dawn, dusk, and in the first few hours after darkness falls. Many species are most active at these times.
- Be particularly watchful for wildlife along roads that border agricultural fields and natural habitats, and wherever roads cross streams.
- Assume that animals do not know to get out of your way. Young animals, in particular, do not recognize cars as a threat.
- Lower your dashboard lights slightly. You'll be more likely to see your headlights reflected in the eyes of animals in time to brake.
- Every apple core, French fry, and smelly sandwich wrapper you toss out of a car attracts wildlife to roadsides—often with fatal results. Never throw litter from your car.
- Remember that where there is one animal crossing, there may be more on the way— young animals following their mother or male animals pursuing a mate.
- Try to slow down, especially after dark. Many animals needlessly become victims simply because people drive too fast to avoid hitting them, or too close to the car in front to see animals in time. Speed and tailgating pose a risk to human safety as well.
