Scientific Road Kill Study

Pretty cool experiment

NASA scientist Mark Rober, who is known around YouTube for creating interesting science experiments on his own time, recently took a rubber snake, tarantula and turtle out to a busy road to see how many drivers would go out of their way to run them over. How many of us are given to sadistic behavior?

http://autos.aol.com/article/nasa-roadkill-experiment/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl7%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D182138

I would have been one of the people trying to save the rubber turtle, and I would have looked as confused as the guy in the red shirt was when he figured out it was fake.

EastCoastMojo wrote: I would have been one of the people trying to save the rubber turtle,

You're not alone. I might even try to save the rubber turtle multiple times

I'd have taken the rubber turtle, put it on my hood, and driven away.

I have done the turtle save twice in the past couple of weeks. One in my neighborhood and one on a fairly major road. I wouldn't go out of my way to run anything over, but I'm not gonna risk killing myself by going into the ditch or losing control of the car trying to dodge something smaller than a cow.

On the drive home from Mosport with a photographer friend today, there was a goddam beaver in the middle of the highway. My friend, who's gay, said "What the hell is that thing?" By the time I could stop laughing long enough to tell him, it had waddled off to safety.

Lesley wrote: there was a goddam beaver in the middle of the highway.

I will not quote primus
I will not quote primus
I will not quote primus

Back when I drove my F150 daily, I would go slightly out of the way to run snakes over. Don't have Tarantulas were I live now. I would go and have gone out of the way to avoid a turtle. And have been lucky not to have hit anything else around these parts, like skunks, armadillos, turkeys. Have hit small birds and took the head off a possum once with the front differential on an old K5 Blazer I had.

Lesley wrote: On the drive home from Mosport with a photographer friend today, there was a goddam beaver in the middle of the highway. My friend, who's gay, said "What the hell is that thing?" By the time I could stop laughing long enough to tell him, it had waddled off to safety.

Yep, he's gay.

We get a lot of turtles around here in the spring and summer. Being on the marsh, they cross the roads looking for highspots to lay their eggs. I have almost been hit trying to save a turtle who somebody decided it would be fun to run over as I reached out to grab her.

On the fun side.. I once JUST avoided a snake that was intent on crossing the road. I swerved all the way to the opposite shoulder to avoid hitting it and must have come within inches... as last I saw it, it was slithering as fast as it could back the way it came

I have moved turtles off the road several times, both from a safely stopped car and from a bike. I have never intentionally hit an animal with my car and I can't imagine what kind of sickos get pleasure from squashing an innocent creature.

me either... though, it says something that most of the road kills were done with SUVs

Braked berkeleying hard early this a.m. to not squash a juvenile skunk crossing the two lane road, stayed in my lane w/ inches to spare and she didn't blow the stink bag... win, win

I wonder if the truck/van/suv kills are truly an insight on driver behavior or if it's simply a visibility issue, I would guess the latter.

Just seemed like the place to put this.

I got this as a gift years ago. . . Ya my family is a bit strange.

Smells like seven layers