Roadkill...

[Willem]

Blood oath I feed roadkill. I like mine real fresh though so I like to run the buggers over myself so I know I've got me a fresh one.

hm, you might consider bow hunting then...to reduce the repairs for he car :)

[Scottsmum]

Blood oath I feed roadkill. I like mine real fresh though so I like to run the buggers over myself so I know I've got me a fresh one.

Jules I think I love you. Fair dinkum!

[JulesP]

Blood oath I feed roadkill. I like mine real fresh though so I like to run the buggers over myself so I know I've got me a fresh one.

hm, you might consider bow hunting then...to reduce the repairs for he car :)

Mate I've got a fourby with a bull bar. Does the trick.

[Willem]

http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/safety-rules/road-rules/animals.html

If the animal has been killed, remove it from the road if it is safe to do so. Be careful with native animals as they may have babies in their pouches

remove it from the road ... that is what I do...

[Diva]

I have never fed roadkill, but I knew someone who had roadkill kangaroo make up a large portion of her Deerhounds' diet, and they did fine. She knew what she was doing in regards to handling the carcasses though.

As for it being better to let them decay on the roadside, they attract scavengers that can themselves be victims of vehicles, including eagles. And adding extra nutrients to road side verges to grow more nice green pick to attract more grazing close to roads doesn't seem like a particularly good outcome. I have no problem with someone collecting the carcasses, as long as they check for pouch young.

[Willem]

I have never fed roadkill, but I knew someone who had roadkill kangaroo make up a large portion of her Deerhounds' diet, and they did fine. She knew what she was doing in regards to handling the carcasses though.

As for it being better to let them decay on the roadside, they attract scavengers that can themselves be victims of vehicles, including eagles. And adding extra nutrients to road side verges to grow more nice green pick to attract more grazing close to roads doesn't seem like a particularly good outcome. I have no problem with someone collecting the carcasses, as long as they check for pouch young.

...I read somewhere that they can live up to 5 days!!! in the pouch of a dead mother...so also if you think the kangaroo is not fresh enough to take it with you it makes sense to check the pouch...which might be tricky due to rigor mortis, you might have to use a knife to cut it open.

[Scottsmum]

It's my understanding that it is illegal to take any native animal from the wild without appropriate licensing.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2013/07/15/legally-speaking-taxidermy-roadkill-artist-could-be-stuffed/

I'm on my phone & on my lunch break so struggling to find a more robust & appropriate link. Sorry.

...that's according to the VIC Welfare Act that differs (?..I didn't followed up on the Vic once I found the one for NSW) from the NSW Welfare Act (TBC)...I think the problem is 'owning / keeping it' or even 'selling' it...hence the guy in the article is asked to destroy it. So even under Vic law I think I would be fine (or fined???) as I don't keep it, but 'destroy' it in an environmental friendly manner :D ...

For the NSW Welfare Act I think I can 'satisfy the court', as requested under section 5c-i that the 'animal concerned was incapable of fending for itself in its natural habitat'...

In some countries the roadkill is actually sold to pet food companies and meat processors, so it has a 'specified' value you would steal from the licenced collectors if you pick it up...but here in Australia we don't put processed roadkill in our Australian made dog food, don't we? :) ...at least I'm not aware of licenced collectors, so I assume I don't steal it from someone...saying this, it is one of the tasks of this thread to find out and to clarify...

ETA:...there is also the hygienic aspect to be considered: if you start transforming your garage into an abattoir processing a big kangaroo every day...well, you will likely have some visitors from the H&S department soon....I assume a Wallaby - for your own dog(s) - every 1-3 month should be fine...

My apologies. I can't find a reference - I'm clearly wrong. I was sure it was an offence to remove any native animal - beyond moving it off the road. And moving it off the road and moving it off the road and taking it home to the dogs are two different things.

[_PL_]

Scottsmum I think it is an offence to remove anything from a National Park.

I'm torn on the topic. There is no way I'd do it and it creeps me out but on the other hand we intentionally kill animals for all sorts of things like food and clothing, and I like the idea that every single part of that animal is used (out of respect?). That nothing is wasted.

Edited September 22, 2016 by Powerlegs

[PossumCorner]

Thanks dolers who read and understood my post. I haven't felt moved to come back and add to the chip(s) on Willem's shoulder(s). Must admit I was waiting for a swipe about not de-sexing to be included, and sure enough. I read the irrelevant very suss links from prejudiced American websites (been in America long, have we?), together with the astonishing sub-links they advertised. (Guns save Lives: Mutant pig with human face born in China). Wow who would have thought either, never too old to learn new stuff!

So far as the personal attacks re kibble - Willem I do live on small acreage, I do keep most meat-type domestics here (chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, alpacas). Surrounding farms can provide all the fresh meat I would want. If choosing kibble I have every confidence in the Australian-made product of choice. None of which has any relevance to my scorn for the arguments in support of taking benefit from wildlife run over by uncaring road users.

[Willem]

...that's all fine and I'm jealous because I don't live on a small acreage ...but regarding the humancentric approach: ...I can't see that breeding (non-native) animals for meat production is more humancentric than making use of native roadkill, and why this sickens you?

...and living in an environment that doesn't rely on any truck delivery, well, not many are so lucky, and they wouldn't be able to afford dog food prices (and other goods) if the drivers would e.g. only drive 30 km/h to avoid any collision. It is easy to climb the moral high ground if you have enough money to pay for all the goods that address an 'humancentric' approach, or if your circumstances allow to source these from elsewhere for little money, many are not so lucky, but that doesn't justify to call them selfish or profiteers....

your sheep, goats or alpacas you have to slaughter for your dog food are not even native animals, thus having a much higher environmental food print, how does this fit into an humancentric approach?

ETA:...and blaming the drivers for killing animals, well, they might just obeying the rules: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/safety-rules/road-rules/animals.html ...

If you can’t avoid the animal safely you may have to hit it to avoid injury or death to yourself and others.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Willem

[PossumCorner]

Yes I know I should apologise for what I did not say, your response underlines that you jump to conclusions, judge and compare without knowing facts.

Don't be jealous - my property is clagged out land subdivided from a closed railway line, in fairly perpetual drought.

I do not slaughter any of my poultry, or other pets for dog food or my own food. It does not happen here. They are pets. When they die they are buried, not eaten. My pets, my choice. High moral ground has nothing to do with it.

I buy most meat at farmers markets and know the on-farm conditions. I do not knowingly buy from intensive-farming sources - free range chicken and pork are available without going that route.

I am unmoved by (are they religion-based - they sound like it?)? insistences that a dead animal must be used and not wasted. Soil improvement with organic matter is not waste in this country. For the environment, it certainly beats "eating and flushing" and binning the bones and hide to be trucked to the council tip. My way is environmentally friendly: the usual holier-than-thou methods of "not wasting any part" just adds to sewerage pondages and landfill disasters.

[Willem]

Yes I know I should apologise for what I did not say, your response underlines that you jump to conclusions, judge and compare without knowing facts.

Don't be jealous - my property is clagged out land subdivided from a closed railway line, in fairly perpetual drought.

I do not slaughter any of my poultry, or other pets for dog food or my own food. It does not happen here. They are pets. When they die they are buried, not eaten. My pets, my choice. High moral ground has nothing to do with it.

I buy most meat at farmers markets and know the on-farm conditions. I do not knowingly buy from intensive-farming sources - free range chicken and pork are available without going that route.

I am unmoved by (are they religion-based - they sound like it?)? insistences that a dead animal must be used and not wasted. Soil improvement with organic matter is not waste in this country. For the environment, it certainly beats "eating and flushing" and binning the bones and hide to be trucked to the council tip. My way is environmentally friendly: the usual holier-than-thou methods of "not wasting any part" just adds to sewerage pondages and landfill disasters.

well, most of the poo of our dog ends up in the dog poo compost drum...and once it is decomposed it goes onto the lawn or other areas in the garden (just not on the veggies)...so I'm not only using the roadkill for feeding my dog, but I use it also to add organic matter back to the environment, how good is this ...

[Willem]

always on the lookout for fresh roadkill I noticed something strange here in the Illawarra, especially around Wollongong: there are heaps of dead bats on the roads - I don't think they got hit by cars, it looks more like they just dropped dead from the sky. I know they can carry nasty viruses so I would never use them as dog food, nevertheless I'm a little bit worried that something is going on here - the scale of this mass mortality is just too big.

Eta: found this http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW164825.html if you see a dead one, make sure you stay away, and don't let your dog play with it.

Eta: and here: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Rabies-Australian-Bat-Lyssavirus-Infection.aspx

Edited October 15, 2016 by Willem

[RuralPug]

I've never used roadkill, heaven knows there is enough of it around here, but I never know how fresh it is...the roos I have hit myself certainly would have been fresh enough LOL but I didn't think the towies who came to haul my front end damaged vehicles would appreciate a carcass on board.

However, I have always fed a lot of roo, it is a good lean meat, and when I lived in central SA the roo I fed was sourced by my husband of the time who enjoyed shooting on his days off. I fed a lot of roo and rabbit to my family too, at that time. Hours of peeling roo tendons out of the meat mincer... Here in Vic the shooting laws are quite different and I will get the odd freshly shot rabbit, but no natives. I purchase my roo from pet food suppliers these days.

I don't have any ethical or moral objections to the use of roadkill, providing that one does know how fresh the kill is, does butcher it correctly and doesn't feed offal from it. In snow country where the carcass would freeze immediately, you would have quite a bit of leeway timewise (and a hell of a job butchering a frozen carcass LOL).

Speaking of freezing, I was always taught that red meat is best kept frozen at or below minus 20 degrees Celsius, perhaps that is old fashioned now?

I do recall the big kerfuffle in the USA some years ago when it was found that some pet food manufacturers accepted roadkill brought to them along with knackery products for inclusion in their formulae. It was my understanding that this triggered the USA Federal law requiring manufacturers to list the exact protein source (e.g. beef, chicken, chicken by-products etc.) instead of a vague "Meat and/or meat by products" which prevented the roadkill practice from recurring. Or so my memory tells me, it was some years ago now.

[Diva]

Speaking of freezing, I was always taught that red meat is best kept frozen at or below minus 20 degrees Celsius, perhaps that is old fashioned now?

The recommendation for domestic freezers seems to be minus 18 or below.

[Willem]

Speaking of freezing, I was always taught that red meat is best kept frozen at or below minus 20 degrees Celsius, perhaps that is old fashioned now?

The recommendation for domestic freezers seems to be minus 18 or below.

for sushi the recommended temperature is -20 deg C (= - 4 deg Fahrenheit); that doesn't kill every virus or bacteria, only a few; however, it will kill worm / worm larvae and other parasites. If you want to make sure that it is steril you would have to boil it, but this would also destroy the valuable enzymes - the enzymes and the fact that the dog really has to chew on a meaty bone (not just gulping it down like mince or kibble) makes the roadkill so valuable for me.

[tdierikx]

always on the lookout for fresh roadkill I noticed something strange here in the Illawarra, especially around Wollongong: there are heaps of dead bats on the roads - I don't think they got hit by cars, it looks more like they just dropped dead from the sky. I know they can carry nasty viruses so I would never use them as dog food, nevertheless I'm a little bit worried that something is going on here - the scale of this mass mortality is just too big.

Eta: found this http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW164825.html if you see a dead one, make sure you stay away, and don't let your dog play with it.

Eta: and here: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Rabies-Australian-Bat-Lyssavirus-Infection.aspx

Lyssavirus affects approximately 4% of the total Australian bat population... and most of those cases have been found up in far north Queensland. It is very rare for Lyssavirus to be this far south, but I'd still not be handling any bat you found - they harbour other zoonotic diseases that won't kill you, but you don't want to catch anyways.

Maybe contact your local wildlife rescue group (WIRES most likely) and ask them if they might be amenable to looking into the cause of the large number of dead bats you are seeing?

ETA: Have messaged a friend of mine who does bat rescue to ask her thoughts...

T.

Edited October 15, 2016 by tdierikx

[Willem]

always on the lookout for fresh roadkill I noticed something strange here in the Illawarra, especially around Wollongong: there are heaps of dead bats on the roads - I don't think they got hit by cars, it looks more like they just dropped dead from the sky. I know they can carry nasty viruses so I would never use them as dog food, nevertheless I'm a little bit worried that something is going on here - the scale of this mass mortality is just too big.

Eta: found this http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW164825.html if you see a dead one, make sure you stay away, and don't let your dog play with it.

Eta: and here: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/Rabies-Australian-Bat-Lyssavirus-Infection.aspx

Lyssavirus affects approximately 4% of the total Australian bat population... and most of those cases have been found up in far north Queensland. It is very rare for Lyssavirus to be this far south, but I'd still not be handling any bat you found - they harbour other zoonotic diseases that won't kill you, but you don't want to catch anyways.

Maybe contact your local wildlife rescue group (WIRES most likely) and ask them if they might be amenable to looking into the cause of the large number of dead bats you are seeing?

ETA: Have messaged a friend of mine who does bat rescue to ask her thoughts...

T.

normally it is actually very rare to find a dead bat, but today on the Prince Highway I could see approx. 3 dead ones per km on the sides of the road - that's definitely not normal.

Eta: a heatwave can cause something like this http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-08/hundred-thousand-dead-bats-after-qld-heatwave-rspca-says/5190644 ...but we had no heatwave here in the Illawarra?

Edited October 15, 2016 by Willem

[tdierikx]

A friend of mine is with WIRES, and she's in contact with the team down that way... can you please give me a more exact location where the dead bats have been sighted? WIRES want to get out there and find out what's happening...

T.

[Willem]

A friend of mine is with WIRES, and she's in contact with the team down that way... can you please give me a more exact location where the dead bats have been sighted? WIRES want to get out there and find out what's happening...

T.

Princess Highway from North Wollongong to the south ...if they start looking North Wollongong they should find enough on the first 10 kms.

Eta: if it is a virus it might be also spread if foxes feed on these carcasses.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Willem