Taking home roadkill in Connecticut is “pretty common,” reports Monroe Animal Control Officer Edward Risko. According to Patch on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, folks who accidentally hit a deer do have the option to take it home.
It usually depends on the condition of the body if people will request to take the dead animal home for the meat. Risko said that they can also sign off roadkill to a passing motorist. Taking home roadkill is not just limited to deer in Conn. People go for black bear and moose that are killed after being hit by a vehicle.
Some people who have wild animals in their care and rehabilitating them from an injury prefer to feed them the meat from other wild animals killed along the road because they don’t want the animals to used to eating human food. If they are fed the same thing that people eat, once the animal is recuperated and let go back into the wild, some of the rehabilitators worry that they will show up in people’s back yard looking for food.
Rehabilitators feed venison to foxes, raccoons, coyotes and even some types of birds. Then there are some rehabilitators who are totally against feeding meat from roadkill to other wild animals because the meat could be diseased.
This is the time of year where the snow and ice may hinder your braking time if a wild animal jumps out in front of your car. If you accidentally hit an animal, like a deer, or see someone else hit it, you can ask the animal control officer if you can take home the dead animal without appearing out of the ordinary.
It is not just meat that people are after who take home roadkill. Some taxidermists will also take home a dead animal if the body is in tact. According to Trib.com, at least 14 states allow people to legally take home roadkill and people use it for all types of things. "The Alaska Moose Federation delivers carcasses to more than 600 food banks, churches and families every year," reports Trib.com.
Some are only after the fur, while others collect the teeth of these dead animals laying on the side of the road. Wyoming is in the process of making it legal for roadkill to go to the first person who wants it. It looks like roadkill is a little known resource for people all over the U.S., including Conn.
Comments