Martin Nowak
Active member
Herptiles Killed by Automobiles and Human Death and Injury from Animal Collisions
Reptiles (and other animals) killed by automobiles were the feature story in “Inside Climate News – Today’s Climate” on September 24, 2024. The story linked to other reports and also focused on human injury and death as a result of such collisions. The subtitle is: “Wildlife Crossings Can Help Prevent Collisions—If They Are in the Right Place”. The gist of the story is that climate change is causing animals to move around more thus causing increasing deaths of the animals by automobiles. I won’t get into the "climate change and don’t drive" discussions – the point here is again – reptile keepers need to be armed and knowledgeable about the media’s distortion of facts.
insideclimatenews.org
Two points in posting on FC are:
1. Information about automobiles killing reptiles.
2. The disconnect of number and costs of human injury / fatality by collisions with mammals versus that of venomous snakebite – i.e. the disproportionate emphasis on reptiles (especially snakes) versus mammals.
The first link in the article is: “Wildlife-Vehicle Collision Reduction Study: Report to Congress”. This report was written in August 2008. At the bottom of the page in small print is noted “This page last modified on 03/08/2016”. Modifications are not indicated. The author therefore uses data which is from 8 – 16 years old. Nevertheless, this report covers relevant topics and solutions to reduce car-animal collisions.
Reptiles / herptiles listed include: American crocodile, desert tortoise, gopher tortoise, Alabama red-bellied turtle, bog turtle, copperbelly water snake, eastern indigo snake, California tiger salamander, flatwoods salamander, and Houston toad.
Conclusions of the report include:
1. 26,000 human injuries per year from collisions
2. 200 human deaths per year from collisions
3. Total annual cost of collisions = $8,388,000,000
It seems unlikely herptiles caused very much injury or death from automobile collisions. Certainly, injury, death, and costs of venomous snakebite are but a tiny fraction in comparison. The average per incident cost of snakebite is higher than the average per incident cost of mammal collisions. But like mammal collisions with average citizens, the vast majority of snakebites occur to non-reptile keepers. Still, the number of mammalian collisions causing harm, death, costs far exceeds the same from venomous snakebite.
The second link in Today’s Climate News is from VOX titled “How cars ruin wild animals’ lives – If you love nature, consider not driving in it”. September 12, 2023.
www.vox.com
Readers will arrive at their own judgements about this story. For me, much of it is sensationalized narrative within a context of some factual foundation. One interesting aspect is the author’s discussion that EVs will cause increased collisions because they are quieter. The central point of this story is to create more road crossings for animals which seems quite reasonable and has been shown to be effective.
How road crossings might save herptiles is a different question and not addressed.
Reptiles (and other animals) killed by automobiles were the feature story in “Inside Climate News – Today’s Climate” on September 24, 2024. The story linked to other reports and also focused on human injury and death as a result of such collisions. The subtitle is: “Wildlife Crossings Can Help Prevent Collisions—If They Are in the Right Place”. The gist of the story is that climate change is causing animals to move around more thus causing increasing deaths of the animals by automobiles. I won’t get into the "climate change and don’t drive" discussions – the point here is again – reptile keepers need to be armed and knowledgeable about the media’s distortion of facts.
As Climate Changes Fuels Animal Movement, Will These Structures Still Help Species Cross the Road? - Inside Climate News
Research shows that global warming is triggering widespread species redistribution. This could hinder the effectiveness of a key conservation tool, experts say.
insideclimatenews.org
Two points in posting on FC are:
1. Information about automobiles killing reptiles.
2. The disconnect of number and costs of human injury / fatality by collisions with mammals versus that of venomous snakebite – i.e. the disproportionate emphasis on reptiles (especially snakes) versus mammals.
The first link in the article is: “Wildlife-Vehicle Collision Reduction Study: Report to Congress”. This report was written in August 2008. At the bottom of the page in small print is noted “This page last modified on 03/08/2016”. Modifications are not indicated. The author therefore uses data which is from 8 – 16 years old. Nevertheless, this report covers relevant topics and solutions to reduce car-animal collisions.
Reptiles / herptiles listed include: American crocodile, desert tortoise, gopher tortoise, Alabama red-bellied turtle, bog turtle, copperbelly water snake, eastern indigo snake, California tiger salamander, flatwoods salamander, and Houston toad.
Conclusions of the report include:
1. 26,000 human injuries per year from collisions
2. 200 human deaths per year from collisions
3. Total annual cost of collisions = $8,388,000,000
It seems unlikely herptiles caused very much injury or death from automobile collisions. Certainly, injury, death, and costs of venomous snakebite are but a tiny fraction in comparison. The average per incident cost of snakebite is higher than the average per incident cost of mammal collisions. But like mammal collisions with average citizens, the vast majority of snakebites occur to non-reptile keepers. Still, the number of mammalian collisions causing harm, death, costs far exceeds the same from venomous snakebite.
Circumstances of Snakebite Envenomation
The research question for this presentation and Abstract (source below): ‘What were the circumstances around the snakebite envenomation?’ 'What was the victim doing?' Once again, reptile keepers must be vigilant about how data is reported, how much data is reported, how the data is analyzed...
www.faunaclassifieds.com
The second link in Today’s Climate News is from VOX titled “How cars ruin wild animals’ lives – If you love nature, consider not driving in it”. September 12, 2023.
How cars ruin wild animals’ lives
The most underrated killer of wild animals: Cars. We have solutions that can help.
www.vox.com
Readers will arrive at their own judgements about this story. For me, much of it is sensationalized narrative within a context of some factual foundation. One interesting aspect is the author’s discussion that EVs will cause increased collisions because they are quieter. The central point of this story is to create more road crossings for animals which seems quite reasonable and has been shown to be effective.
How road crossings might save herptiles is a different question and not addressed.