Dispatching injured roadkill?

[Bothwell_Craig]

Here in North East Iowa, ......

Worlds apart from here in Scotland it would seem!

If YOU wish to try and save/rehabilitate an animal that has been injured, then please do. But don't expect anybody else to pay for it.

I have the utmost respect and compassion for all life and would expect most outdoors people to be the same. The Natives of your country killed a lot of buffalo to survive but they still had a great deal of respect and revered the beast did they not?
Where does the pay for it bit come from???

And if you want to equate that animal life to human life, that is your choice.

What a ridiculous thing to say. NO animal is equatable to human life. I have never said so, in fact, I find that thought quite distasteful. I equated survivable injuries.

But few others believe that - other than some hard-core vegetarians

I am neither hard core nor vegetarian

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

With a pinch of salt I shall.

 

[Jaysurfer]

I wouldn't go getting too close to a badger if i was you! If it is dead you can tell from a safe distance! If it is not dead and injured you will see that it is in distress.
Badgers are not pleasent creatures when they are hurt, injured or feel threatened - They will attack anyone and anything that comes near them.
Once a badger grabs hold of something it will not let go easily!

I have had to deal with Rabbits and Deer - I live in the countryside! I have seen Badgers dealt with several times and would not want to do it myself without the appropriate tools! Badgers also catty disease so please think twice before going near them.

 

[Bothwell_Craig]

I wouldn't go getting too close to a badger if i was you! If it is dead you can tell from a safe distance! If it is not dead and injured you will see that it is in distress.

You cant always be sure that its dead. Trust me.
As you say, approach with extreme caution, they have a bite like no other native UK mammal owing to the uniqueness of their jaw.

 

[widu13]

Many deer can be rehabilitated after RTA's and there are many voluntary organisations, aside from the SSPCA / RSPCA that have the neccessary facilities and experience to do so and will come out at all hours given the chance.

Many maybe, most- no. In all of the deer incidents I have attended (25-30 ish) only one has been taken away. The others were despatched and butchered at the roadside.

Shock is THE biggest killer of wild animals hit by vehicles who do not die immediately. Broken limbs are nearly always a bullet job for a deer.

 

[Mooseman1]

My wife had a funny experiance with road kill, she was visiting her aunt who works in Alice Springs NT Australia (the wifes an ozzy) when she took a local tour to the springs and other sites the bus was full of Americans and Brits any way half way between sites they came across a cattle truck, it appear's one of the sheep had done a Jason bourne and got off the back of the truck, hit the deck and was in a world of pain.

The tour bus stopped along side it and as you can imagine all the tourist where horrified. The stockman simply got out the truck walked over to the beast and wrapped his legs around its waist and broke its neck..............my wife who was raised on a farm never raised an eye but boy did the tourist S$it a brick. City folk.........

 

[Barn Owl]

Indeed Barn Owl and you have one of the best volunteer organisations right on your doorstep!

I'm a member and courier for them

 

[Bothwell_Craig]

I'm a member and courier for them

I may well see you down there some time then!

 

[WelshHunter]

break its neck
hold the neck and legs and pull till you hear snap and crunch

 

[Oblio13]

Put an ax handle or stick across the critter's neck, stand on each end of it, grab the hind legs, and give a good yank up. It'll break the neck quickly and cleanly, without putting you at risk of being bitten.

 

[Sisyphus]

Well my worst nightmare was recently realised when I found a seriously injured deer on a quiet country road.
I guessed it hadn't been there for long before I came to it.
I stopped to see if I could help, but it was very apparent there was nothing that could be done.
A couple of cars passed, and noone else stopped.

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but found the courage to run her over a couple more times, and in less that a minute it's suffering was over.

I really hope this is a joke. If was involved in an RTA as a pedestrian, the last thing I would want is a layman to decide that my broken leg is a fatal injury and for him to then "run me over a couple of more times" to "put me out of my misery".

I would advise people like yourself to either call the local police or vet if you are concerned about an injured animal, but otherwise just leave well alone. I find a lot of what has been said in this thread rather frightening.

 

[Tye Possum]

I think that if an animal has a broken leg it's probably going to be fatal. If it can't walk or anything it can't eat or drink and it's going to die. Unless your in or near a town there really isn't much you could do about it and killing it as quickly as you can would save it from suffering for a long time and eventually dieing of starvation or dehydration. If you find the animal in an area where people could get to it quickly and the animal only has a broken leg or something then sure call someone that really knows what they're doing but if your in an area way the heck out there then killing it as quickly as possible, although it may seem like a horrible thing to do, can save it from a lot of suffering. I read a story once where a guy was out hiking and found a deer that had been hit by a car and he didn't have a phone and he was a long way away from anyone so he chased it down hit it with a large branch and quickly stabbed it in the heart. I'm sure that was the last thing he would want to do to quickly kill the deer but in a situation where the deer was going to die and there was no hope of saving it then he did the only thing he could do and although it may have seemed quite brutal it probably saved the deer from a slow and painfull death. Now he's known as deer runner I believe.

 

[robin wood]

Well I am in favor of the quick dispatch for badly injured animals, not so for humans. There is a huge difference. The injured human can understand being in hospital with broken bits for a wild animal that is adding much stress to an already horrible situation. I was taught by my dad how to pull a rabbits neck at an early age when there was lots of myxomatosis about and have done so many times when seeing road injuries.

I also used to get called out by the police for road kill deer when working at Hatfield Forest. We used to take the carcass away. On one occasion I had one with a broken back and no known gun licensed people in the immediate area were around so I had to choose to either leave it to a long slow death on the side of the road of to finish it with a knife. I did it with a knife, it was quick but it was not something I would choose to do again and has lived with me for 20 years.

 

[Fraxinus]

I would find it a very sad day, should the day come, when I felt no remorse for dispatching an animal. Be it for food or to end suffering I always feel it.
It is good to know others feel similarly.

Fraxinus

 

[ex Member swampy99]

I was on duty at the Air Ambulance base and was taking the response car out for a spin around the back part of the airfield to keep the batterys charged and was going a bit fast when a rabbit popped out and went under the car I did stop andturn around to find it was still alive but the back legs were gone.
Picked it up and done the neck then put it into the back of the car and went to the crew room with it. Walked in and the pilot said that it would go nice with the salad he was going to have for lunch so I cleand it and jointed it and we had pan fried rabbit and salad. The police down stairs thnk we were banjo players for eating road kill.

Hmmm nice.

 

[gregorach]

I really hope this is a joke. If was involved in an RTA as a pedestrian, the last thing I would want is a layman to decide that my broken leg is a fatal injury and for him to then "run me over a couple of more times" to "put me out of my misery".

I would advise people like yourself to either call the local police or vet if you are concerned about an injured animal, but otherwise just leave well alone. I find a lot of what has been said in this thread rather frightening.

The thing is, you can't put a deer in traction for the months it takes to heal a broken leg. Although I would agree that calling in a vet or the RSPCA is generally preferable - they'll be able to dispatch the animal in a more humane fashion. But at the end of the day, you have to make a judgement call about how long it will take for them to get there.

 

[BigShot]

Swampy, if good quality, fresh and free food makes you a banjo player, so be it! Haha.

It's not like you pulled over for a completely flat, barely recognisable bunny on the road!

 

[ex Member swampy99]

Swampy, if good quality, fresh and free food makes you a banjo player, so be it! Haha.

It's not like you pulled over for a completely flat, barely recognisable bunny on the road!

But you can fit that in some pitta bread with salad. well that what the local kebab vans in south essex sell by the looks of it.

 

[BigShot]

Haha - pre shaped!
Urgh!

The main thing that'd put me off roadkill not hit by me or that I'd seen hit, would be what might have come along after.
Farm vehicles with tyres covered in, erm, "animal dirt"?
Disease riddled foxes which had a gnaw before being scared off?
I'm just not so sure about such unknown quantities. Maybe I'm being a bit prissy - but as long as I can trap, shoot or buy, I'd be more inclined to go down that route than roadkill I've not seen move before or after the hit!

 

[squirrelhunter23]

a large walking stick or other tool will end the suffering of anything smaller than a rabbit and plus its something that can stay in your car 24-7

 

[haw_thrn]

the last two times I was witness to deer colisions the deer were dispatched by locals who had hunting experience. both times the throat was expertly cut open and both times the deer was eaten (the last time I got to keep the deer ) A word of advise though, be extremly cautious about aproaching a deer or any animal that has been injured. no mater how bad they look you'd be supprised how much fight for life they may still have and you could wind up in the hospital or worse.

as for running an injured deer over with a car ,, just a tad brutal. maybe get some help next time?

and as for broken legs, i've actually seen a 3 legged deer before