Squash standings
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1998:
MENTOR, Ohio––Drivers can
avoid roadkills and stay out of accidents,
suggests data gathered since 1993 by Mentor,
Ohio transportation department employee
Cathy Strah, by looking out for rabbits in
spring; Canada geese, raccoons, skunks,
and squirrels in late summer; and deer in fall.
Adding 1997 data to the four-year
totals analyzed in the March 1997 edition of
ANIMAL PEOPLE mostly confirms previous
findings. Strah has now recorded particulars
of 3113 roadkills picked up by Mentor
town crews, an average of 622 per year. The
lowest annual total was 456 in 1996, after the
harsh winter of 1995-1996; the highest was
778, a year earlier; and the 1997 total was
668, the closest yet to the norm.
Nine species––cats, deer, geese,
opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels,
and woodchucks––accounted as always
for more than 80% of the total. No other
species accounted for even 1%. No species
was hit or not hit enough in 1997 to change
the percentage distribution of victims by more
than 1.6%. This would suggest that enough
data is now in the sample base to eliminate
most flukes. An exception was an extraordinary
and still unexplained jump in opossum
kills during September 1994. Except for that
one month, opossums would appear to be hit
at a more-or-less steady rate from April
through November.
Seven of the eight other species
recorded in significant number show peak
vulnerability coinciding with when young
leave their mothers. Cats also have a peak
coinciding with spring mating, while woodchucks
appear exceptionally vulnerable during
February thaws.
Deer have a spring peak of vulnerability
to cars coinciding with snowmelt,
when they roam farther to find food, and a
midsummer rise coinciding with fawns beginning
to follow their mothers, but 54% of all
the deer killed by cars in Mentor are killed
during the series of hunting seasons that
begin in September and continue into
December. This mirrors data collected in
other states by insurance companies and
wildlife agencies, notably Wisconsin, where
half of all deer/car collisions 1990-1995
occurred during the October-throughDecember
sequence of hunting seasons.
Hunters commonly pretend that the
rut, or deer mating season, is the greater factor
in causing late fall roadkill surges, but the
surges begin a month before most bucks rut,
and continue for a month after rutting is virtually
over. Deer/car collisions typically occur
at night, after deer who fled their home territory
in daytime try to make their way back.
About half the accidents involve young deer,
attempting to follow mothers who previously
crossed a road safely. The youngster steps
out just as a driver, who saw the mother go,
thinks the way is clear and steps on the gas.
“CS” in the table below shows
Strah’s findings as to the percentage of total
roadkills involving each listed species. “DS”
shows the same figure for data gathered by
the annual Dr. Splatt surveys, conducted by
middle school students from more than 100
different areas around the U.S.––a more geographically
representative data base, but not
collected in as consistent a manner. The
remaining figures show the percentage of
total roadkills of each species in each month.
Species CS DS Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Spt Oct Nov De c
Cats 4% 5% 4% 11% 11 % 9% 3% 8% 7% 9% 9% 13% 8% 4%
Deer 1% 1% 5% 5% 14% 2% 9% 9% 2% 9% 19% 12% 14%
Geese 5% 9% 7% 6% 38% 30% 3% 7% 5% 3%
Opossums 7% 65 4% 3% 3% 10% 9% 7% 6% 12% 17% 10% 10% 2%
Rabbits 7% 3% 2% 4% 1 7% 1 6% 1 6% 11% 6% 7% 6% 4% 1%
Raccoons 15% 9% 1% 4% 3% 6% 8% 8% 35% 23% 23% 20% 8%
Skunks 12% 6% 1% 5% 1% 5% 3% 5% 1 4% 21% 19% 13% 3% 1%
Squirrels 27% 34% 4% 3% 8% 10% 4% 9% 9% 9% 18% 16% 9% 4%
Woodchucks 2% 1% 17% 6% 7% 6% 1 1% 27% 23% 11% 11% 6%
80% 68% 3% 3% 11% 10% 8% 8% 14% 13% 13% 1 2%
