What happens to roadkill that doesn’t get scavenged?

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Roadkill usually gets scavenged by other animals, and sometimes animals are taken by people who may want to eat them or stuff them. So what happens to roadkill that other animals and people don’t want?

The answer to that question seems to vary from state to state, county to county and city to city.

White County, Illinois

White County officials say they typically only take care of larger roadkill, such as deer, coyotes, dogs and cats, because the smaller animals tend to be removed by scavengers before officials become aware of it. Depending on the location, officials will either bring the animals back to the maintenance yard and bury them, or they may bury them on the road right of way near the location of the incident.

Officials say they will pick up the carcasses as they become aware of them. They are typically notified through phone calls from the public. The county only has three maintenance workers, so the workers do not have a dedicated crew that does this work on a set schedule. If they become aware of roadkill, they will try to take care of it in a timely manner. There may be times removing roadkill moves down the priority list, but if it is a major safety hazard, crews take care of roadkill as soon as they can.

A spokesperson says these are the typical procedures; however, there may be times when animals are simply pulled out of the road to get the corpses out of the way of oncoming traffic. Road officials will then try to get back in a timely manner for removal. There are times when scavengers will get to them before officials get back, though.

White County officials say they only remove roadkill on the 164 miles of county roads in White County. The Illinois Department of Transportation and cities and townships may have different procedures for the other 1,000 miles of road in White County.

Indiana

According to a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), roadkill picked up by the agency is burned in an incinerator built specifically for that kind of waste. INDOT says its crews are always patrolling to keep an eye out for roadkill. INDOT’s customer service line is also available for people to call in case there is roadkill that needs to be removed.

INDOT says there is never an instance where roadkill gets ignored. It says crews are always out there to address any roadkill issues on state highways.

Kentucky

According to an official with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), state highway crews move carcasses off roadways onto rights of way to quickly reduce safety hazards to travelers.

Officials say carcasses are removed, buried or incinerated as needed.

KYTC says the public can contact its district office or call the Traffic Control Operations Center to notify staff of highway hazards.

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