Alexandra Falls
IN the early months of spring, beside the budding flowers and green trees, there is a far uglier seasonal sight, but one we are equally accustomed to.
The warmer months also welcome a rash of dead animals, kangaroos and wombats in particular, littering local roads after collisions.
The sight of a fresh marsupial splattered across the bitumen, or stiff and motionless by the side of the road, is a common one in the Mitchell Shire, but especially in recent months.
But more distressing is the fact that often these unclaimed animals are left to disintegrate by the side of the road.
Depending on the location of the collision, either the Mitchell Shire Council or VicRoads hold the responsibility of cleaning up the butchered roadside marsupials.
The Mitchell Shire is responsible for residential and local roads within townships and VicRoads are responsible for road kill clearance on arterial and main roads.
However, drivers who hit animals should not assume that these organisations will automatically resolve the issue.
While VicRoads and the council say they aim to clear a corpse within a week, they need to be alerted to the animal’s location.
These organisations do not run frequent patrols on local roads where the majority of animals are killed, and without being reported dead marsupials are more likely to erode with time before they are cleared away.
Dr Robyn Coy, who runs the Kilmore Wildlife Shelter, believes rotting road kill poses two significant risks.
Firstly birds, dogs and other animals will come to scavenge on the corpse and their presence could cause another accident or result in more wildlife being killed.
There is also a chance that if the animal killed had any young, they will return to the side of the road to their mother and risk also being ran down.
Dr Coy believes that drivers need to take more responsibility when they collide with an animal on the road.
“If you hit an animal you have a responsibility to call it in,” she said.
In addition to getting an animal safely cleared away, calling in a collision means marsupials can be checked for babies or euthanised if still alive and in pain.
Dr Coy also said that people who think the animal, particularly kangaroos, moved away after a collision unharmed must report it.
“The animals have a rush of adrenaline after a collision which keeps them going for a short distance, but when it burns off they die slowly, away from the road where they could be identified,” she said.
Dr Coy, who last week identified seven dead kangaroos on the Wallan off ramp in a single day, said the most unfortunate thing about the frequent animal deaths is that the bodies don’t seem to deter people from slowing down and avoiding more carnage.
“The only advantage of seeing a dead animal is that it should indicate that there are probably more around,” she said.
She urges local residents to be aware of wildlife signs and slow down, particularly between dusk and dawn, and to always report a collision as soon as it occurs.
To inform a wildlife authority of an animal collision Dr Coy recommends the RACV wildlife assist line on 131 1111.
To report a dead animal on the road, residents can contact VicRoads on 13 11 70 or the Mitchell Shire on 5734 6200.
