United States
£ GBP
Slaughtered along U.S. highways and byways, roadkill may be observed by American motorists regularly, but aren't likely to be given much thought. Research scientists, animal rights activists, roadkill artists, writers, ethicists and lyricists, however, are increasingly sounding the alarm about its prevalence, reporting that we are killing the very animals we love and are literally driving many of them to the brink of extinction. Detailing the death and destruction of our favourite mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insect pollinators, this study examines the ways in which we are jeopardizing our own futures as our vehicles destroy wildlife large, small, and essential.
Beginning in the era of the Model T, university biologists counted the common carnage of the time – cottontails, woodchucks, and squirrels, mostly – and that record-keeping continues today. But beyond reporting the bleak statistics, zoologists and their citizen scientist friends are both rerouting trails and migratory paths of animals and are advocating for man's best friends in our cat and dog companions. Examining these activities, American Roadkill illuminates both our successes and failures in keeping animals out of harm's way and what those efforts reflect about ourselves and our capacity to care enough to alter the road ahead.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Skunks: Stinkin' American Roadkill
2. Pulverized Possums on Pavement
3. Not Enough Room for Rocky Raccoon
4. Countdown to a Squirrel Apocalypse
5. Crashes Crumple Crossing Cottontails
6. Bad Mix: Turtles and Tire Treads
7. Hopping Mad Over Roadkill Frogs
8. Snake Mistakes: Rattled and Rolled
9. Amarillo's Armadillos Have Arrived
10. Roadkill's Winged Creatures
11. Doe-Eyed, Dangerous and Deadly
12. Roadkill Canines: Fur Cryin' Out Loud
13. Bullwinkle's Last Stand
14. Florida's Pummeled Panthers
15. Wayward Bears: Barely a Chance
16. Roadkill: Man's Best Friends
17. Roadkill: Words, Art, Music and Dining
18. Postscript: Animals' Lives Matter
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
Don H. Corrigan is the editor emeritus for the Webster-Kirkwood Times weekly newspapers in St. Louis, where he has written on the outdoors and environment for four decades. He also is a professor emeritus for Webster University, where he directed student studies for the school's Outdoor/Environmental Journalism Certificate. He lives in Fenton, Missouri.
