Who Will Honor These Dead?

A million creatures are killed every year on the road.  Their flattened bodies are familiar. We distract our children to shield them from some of the most gruesome sights.  We brake and swerve.  The US Department of Transportation estimates the cost of annual car-animal collisions is $8 billion. You can read more about this slaughter in the New York Times.  At Amazon you can buy Buck Peterson's "Quick Fix Cooking with Roadkill", or "Iowa's Roadkill Cookbook" by Bruce Carlson.  Many years ago my son, then in Junior High, went off on a guided bicycle ride across the west.  I gave him stamped postcards with which to write home.  Each came with a description of roadkill highlights.  I have a friend whose hobby is taxidermy.  His is wildlife art.  Each anatomical detail is carefully presented. His subjects are mounted in appropriate settings, lifelike, alluring.You can read here to learn about required skills. My friend mounts only road kill. He lovingly puts each creature right again.  For years he longed for a skunk, and asked friends to help find and bring one in.  This was a big ask.  It finally was answered.  Here is his masterpiece.