COVID-19 Caused Drop in Idaho Road Kill

Maybe Brad Little will extend the vote to raccoons, deer and rock chucks.  Apparently, the critters were beneficiaries of his stay at home order early in the coronavirus panic.  A new study by the University of California at Davis examined several years of road kill data and concluded the animals benefited from the lack of traffic.  Research examined the numbers in Idaho, California and Maine.

The figures from this spring were compared against the previous five years and there is a significant drop in road kill in all three states and it matches the dates people were asked or told to stay home as a means of limiting spread of COVID-19. 

Researchers say even more remarkable is road kill often hits a yearly peek in the weeks it was actually dropping and in some areas the number plunged by more than half.

The study was conducted by something known as the Road Ecology Center.  It has a very academic ring to the name!

The Center has this explanation posted on its website.

The UC Davis Road Ecology Center brings together researchers and policy makers from ecology and transportation to design sustainable transportation systems based on an understanding of the impact of roads on natural landscapes and human communities.

Look, I’m not a Volvo driving vegetarian who spends my spare time cleaning oil out of bird feathers but the work sounds as if it has some benefit.  I cringe when I run over even the smallest animal and the larger ones aren’t helpful to my hood and quarter panels.