Want to learn more about animal roadkill? Book by Belleville native covers all the bases

Most people probably have run over animals on the road and felt bad about it for a while. But life goes on and there are other places to drive to and you get over it.

Others don’t. Don H. Corrigan, Belleville native and publisher emeritus of the Webster-Kirkwood Times, thought deeper about it and produced a book, “American Roadkill: The Animal Victims of Our Busy Highways,” by McFarland Publishing. The book examines the lore, ethics, politics, and even humor of roadkill.

An animal lover with a long history of household pets, like others Corrigan has heard the jokes about chickens crossing the road to show possums, armadillos, deer, etc., it can be done. I know I told him a couple. But he said he was surprised to discover the extent of roadkill on American roads.

“I found out we run over 1 million animals a day in America,” he said.

So he researched and wrote a book about many of the species that perish under the wheels of passing traffic.

From possums, whose favorite defense strategy of playing dead doesn’t work well on highways, to armadillos that often spring straight up when startled, animals have been losing the battle to cross roads at an alarming rate.

Corrigan relates some of his favorite stories like the dead animal discovered by a newspaper columnist which had been painted over by a road striping crew. Or musician Loudon Wainwright III explaining there was no cosmic meaning about his song “Dead Skunk,” which relates to a “dead skunk in the middle of the road stinking to high heaven.” It was just about a dead skunk and they do stink, as we all know.

Another problem with roadkill is it attracts other animals which then become roadkill themselves. Unwary buzzards are bad at this.

He also talks about conservation efforts and passes along tips from authorities on avoiding animals. He relates a story from a driver who struck a moose and said it just came out of nowhere, leading a law official to wonder how the moose could have been so hard to notice.

Corrigan said he hopes to set up some events with local animal rescue groups to promote both them and his book. He may put together a Roadkill Eulogy Tour in places where the accidental slaughter is the worst.

Although there have been other books published on roadkill, Corrigan said it is a pretty small genre.

“I think I can safely say my American Roadkill is the definitive book on the subject,” he said.

You can find more on the book at the website mcFarlandpublishing.com.

This story was originally published December 4, 2021 at 9:00 AM.