Tuesday March 4, 2008
South Florida roadkill gallery
Here are some pretty troubling pictures. I took most of these late last year, and have been giving serious though about whether or not to run them. In the end, though, this is a slice of reality which we miss zipping around in our fancy cars, but it deserves a little bit of examination. Follow 14 pictures of what happens when nature intersects with our car culture. No cats or dogs — I was spared seeing any, and I wouldn’t have photographed them if I had. Pretty gruesome anyway, though. Click for slideshow.
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Insightful and a dramatic presentation. But, with your readership’s priorities in mind, why not add recipes or suggestions for area restaurants that prepare and serve these fresh-killed delicacies? E.g., I understand that Possums-in-Blankets are a favorite hors d’oeuvre in Florida City.
I’ve thought about taking more of those pics but, so far, haven’t. In the wild I’ll take a pic every time though. For some reason I find death away from the evil humans more worthy of an image. I’ve even collected some of the remains (bones and feathers mostly).
squathole,
you read my mind! Maybe we can get a recipe book going? I have a great chipotle sauce that would go well with that possum . . .
Anyone seen the english guy on foodnetwork (i think) who cooks purely natural from the forest and on occasion will cook up some tasty naturally or road killed animals?
The worst is Bear Grills, Man vs. Wild dude — when he comes across a dead animal in the bush, if he’s hungry enough he’ll asserting whether it’s still “good to eat” (i.e. he’s only been here a couple of days; in this temperature — GOOD TO EAT!). Anyway, if NOT, he’ll cut the animal open and eat maggots out of the carcass!!
forgot about that dude! I love that show. Isnt he the one who slept inside a camel carcass also?
he’s the one that slept at a holiday inn once rather than rough it out in the wild, apparently.
Alesh,
somewhere along the way (picture of squirrel) I questioned why I was looking at these pictures . . . but I didn’t stop. Something about myself I’m not proud of.
Ms Calabaza~
The squirrel’s tragic. He’s the first one I photographed in this series, and without him I don’t think I’d have thought to take the rest. It was weird, coming across all of these things, all in the space of a few weeks. Anyway, I hope they’re not just about gore.
i’m surprised you didn’t encounter any armadillos. we had them when i was kid wandering around palm beach county. surely miami-dade has them?
are you sure the black one wasn’t a cat? and did i see a fox in there as well?
Yo Alesh –
Maybe it was too hard to tell because of all the mangled fur, but pics eight and thirteen are definitely cats and number eleven is a dog. Regardless, great slideshow.
People. When a critter is smushed by a car there is so much bruising in the meat that it is inedible. More graphically, when the putrid contents of the guts smush out into the carcas cavities, it renders the meat toxic. I know Skink made it sound tasty and all, but … yuck.
Ferfe: Is that true of human meat, too?
Assessor~
8 and 11 are taken out on Krome in the middle of the Everglades… I assume they’re foxes, or some other animal. I fear you may be right about 13, though — looking at it now, I think I see a paw. Oh, well.
FerfeLaBat~
I’d like to see some documentation on that. Aren’t there stories of people eating deer that get hit by a car? Or what about animals that fall off a cliff? Wouldn’t that be a similar situation?
Roadkill, SFW or NSFW?…i mean i know it’s not porn but what would my coworkers think if i was caught looking at this? they might think i have a roadkill fetish? (praying to the higher-power that there is no such thing!)interesting nevertheless.
Depends. My husband hit a deer with a plane on take off. A deer that explodes all over a runway is definitely inedible. However, if it is hit in the head and the rest of the body is intact, it might be edible. If it’s smushed and the guts emptied out then it is toxic. Ask any hunter. A critter that falls off a cliff MIGHT be edible but, again, bruised meat … yuck.
alesh – most of this can be found in the margins and back pages of the Cruciger Family Bible which we keep at the original family cabin up in Gotha, Florida (not a town anymore but the cabin is stil there).
Mike~ Is your boss male or female?
FerfeLaBat~
So, maybe you can help. I’m considering a bicycle trip around Florida, maybe a 2-week thing? My current thinking has me taking a train to somewhere out in the panhandle and making my way down. I’d pass through Gainesville and visit the brother, then follow the east coast. I could certainly pass through Gotha, tho. Any suggestions re. route or other comments?
Gotha used to be orange groves and old Florida cabins. Now? It’s all been developed and all that remains is the old post office — if that. To get to it you have to get past some of the meanest cops in the state in Windermere and past what used to be Turkey Lake but is now a theme park of some kind. If I didn’t have relatives there I would never go back to central florida.
My favorite roads are hwy 27 in the bend on the west coast. The route you are taking brings you close to Jack’s Barbeque (100 S. U.S. Highway 27, Minneola; 352-394-2673) No road kill. Good BBQ.
If I were planning a lazy drive with the top down I would start at the “Lazy Hours Inn” on Flagler beach by the pier and take A1A to Daytona.
Alesh,
What are your thoughts on the Key Deer situation?
male boss…but yeah i wasn’t being serious with my comment.
That 70 mile trip down 27 from the lake could be brutal on a hot day. I’d go east around the refuge, then down south through the suburbs.