6 ms·

Eating Roadkill Is Illegal in California. But That May Change

16 points by howard941 7y ago

TimTheTinker 7y ago
> By allowing salvagers to apply for a permit after collecting the animal, the law could give the poachers a ready-made excuse when caught with a contraband carcass: “I swear, officer, I just found it on the side of the road!” The above is cited as a potential unintended consequence of legalizing roadkill salvage. Does anyone have a take on how likely that consequence would be to happen?
- eridius 7y ago
  Is it not obvious from inspecting a carcass whether it died due to impact with a vehicle versus some other means?
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    Since the bill allows wounded animals to be killed after being found injured on the road, not just collecting actual road kill, the fact that an animal was killed by some other means than vehicle impact wouldn't suffice to establish that there was a violation of the law.
- burk96 7y ago
  Growing up I had a family friend who was a park ranger in a popular hunting area (not California fwiw). The laws protecting wildlife from poachers are really strong and rangers take them very seriously. As a result, catching a poacher can often be a messy scenario. If it doesn't turn violent, you can bet the poachers will try everything to get out of catching the case. I don't think it's unreasonable that poachers would try to protect themselves with this defense. That said, I don't think that potential wiggle room poachers may try to exploit should be reason to keep salvaging illegal. The only time I have ever heard of a poacher making that excuse was in an askreddit thread (yeah I know take it with a grain of salt) about LEOs getting guns pulled on them. In that story the ranger could clearly tell the animal had been shot, not hit with a vehicle, and I would imagine in many other cases a ranger would be able to tell the difference too.
  - merpnderp 7y ago
    I mean if they shot a deer, then ran it over with their car, it would look like a deer that was shot then ran over. You'd have to mangle the animal severely to make a rifle/bow wound difficult to find.
    - dragonwriter 7y ago
      > I mean if they shot a deer, then ran it over with their car, it would look like a deer that was shot then ran over. While no doubt an actual autopsy will often distinguish "run over and then shot" from "shot and then run over" (note that the bill allows "dispatching" animals that are wounded but not killed on the road, so there being a clear bullet/arrow/etc. wound, even if it can be established that it came from the person who collected it and not previously and non-fatally, is not determinative of a violation), its considerably costlier to distinguish violations from permitted conduct, which makes enforcement harder and promotes violations.
      - masonic 7y ago
        autopsy necropsy
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- pvaldes 7y ago
  > Does anyone have a take on how likely that consequence would be to happen? Very probable, has happened yet. To fake a car kill is a well known alibi for crimes against endangered species like critically endangered Iberian lynx. If people are allowed to retire the corpse and eat the animal, how the administration could look for evidence of illegal shooting or traps before the evidence is buried or eaten?. Anybody could just shoot, and then other people could use a SUV and have a free pass to violate any hunting law. On the other hand, in most countries meat for human comsumption must be examinated by a licensed veterinary to avoid spreading diseases to cattle and people. Ill and confused animals are more prone to end as roadkills. Rabies, roundworms or Trichinose could increase amongst human population.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Apocryphon 7y ago
Why not decompose the carcass if you're doing this for ecological reasons? Encouraging consumption just makes it seem like a cruel not-solution for the poverty problems in this state.
- merpnderp 7y ago
  A lot of people like wild game. And why let it go to waste, especially when it would likely be displacing some other form of food consumption?
  - Apocryphon 7y ago
    Unless you manage to luckily find a fresh kill, isn't it generally a bad idea to eat meat that was left out in the sun on the road for an indefinite amount of time? Even if you cook it?
    - HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
      Around here, some nights it seems that the deer are trying to get run over! I have literally, no joke, come around a bend to find two deer fighting in the middle of the road at 10:30pm. I see fresh roadkill (as in: wasn't there yesterday) pretty often on my drive to work in the mornings.
      - Apocryphon 7y ago
        Right, but the question is that roadkill fresh enough to be cooked for consumption? It's one thing if you killed it yourself and bagged it up to be cooked, it's another if that deer had been laying there all night. Unless, it's somehow sanitary or safe to eat raw meat that was also left outside for the same amount of time, so long as you cook it thoroughly after.
- anon1m0us 7y ago
  In areas where people are hungry, hitting a deer and being forced to leave it to rot on the side of the road is a real tragedy. One deer is enough meat for a whole family for many months.
modzu 7y ago
"While roadkill cuisine may not yet be mainstream" (like it will be someday) "stereotyped hillbilly eating roadkill has been replaced by an environmentally and food conscientious middle-class urbanite" lol am i reading the onion?
- waffleguy 7y ago
  Hey! Don’t ruin it! If we convince rich and upper middle class people to eat garbage, then good food will be less expensive. Soon, everyone will enjoy caviar!
fatnoah 7y ago
I grew up in NH. They have a different approach: https://www.fosters.com/news/20181006/roadkill-for-dinner-programs-salvage-meat https://www.fosters.com/news/20181006/roadkill-for-dinner-pr...
- thrower123 7y ago
  In Maine people used to seek out the local wardens to get on the list for moose hits because they liked moosemeat. It's pretty sickening driving south, where deer populations are so thick and there aren't the winters and hunters to check them, to see so many roadkills in the ditch just rotting and going to waste.
aosmith 7y ago
Why is this illegal to begin with? I grew up in Michigan and it was very common to call a charity to collect the meat after hitting a deer.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
  In Minnesota they take them to the International Wolf Center to feed the pack (if within 150 miles I believe).
chayesfss 7y ago
I’ve eaten a lot of roadkill. Most often a lot of the meat is tainted and can’t be used. You can’t really see that driving from your car thinking why doesn’t someone just eat that but you might just get a single back strap from road kill, or just a breast from a turkey. Again, it’s not ever too easy and you’ve got to be careful so who’s going to do that for a family? On top of all that you’ve got to get grinders, vacuum dealers and bone saws, all that being said I’ve got a rear shank I’ll be cooking this weekend.

16 points by howard941 7y ago

> By allowing salvagers to apply for a permit after collecting the animal, the law could give the poachers a ready-made excuse when caught with a contraband carcass: “I swear, officer, I just found it on the side of the road!” The above is cited as a potential unintended consequence of legalizing roadkill salvage. Does anyone have a take on how likely that consequence would be to happen?

eridius 7y ago
Is it not obvious from inspecting a carcass whether it died due to impact with a vehicle versus some other means?
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  Since the bill allows wounded animals to be killed after being found injured on the road, not just collecting actual road kill, the fact that an animal was killed by some other means than vehicle impact wouldn't suffice to establish that there was a violation of the law.
burk96 7y ago
Growing up I had a family friend who was a park ranger in a popular hunting area (not California fwiw). The laws protecting wildlife from poachers are really strong and rangers take them very seriously. As a result, catching a poacher can often be a messy scenario. If it doesn't turn violent, you can bet the poachers will try everything to get out of catching the case. I don't think it's unreasonable that poachers would try to protect themselves with this defense. That said, I don't think that potential wiggle room poachers may try to exploit should be reason to keep salvaging illegal. The only time I have ever heard of a poacher making that excuse was in an askreddit thread (yeah I know take it with a grain of salt) about LEOs getting guns pulled on them. In that story the ranger could clearly tell the animal had been shot, not hit with a vehicle, and I would imagine in many other cases a ranger would be able to tell the difference too.
- merpnderp 7y ago
  I mean if they shot a deer, then ran it over with their car, it would look like a deer that was shot then ran over. You'd have to mangle the animal severely to make a rifle/bow wound difficult to find.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > I mean if they shot a deer, then ran it over with their car, it would look like a deer that was shot then ran over. While no doubt an actual autopsy will often distinguish "run over and then shot" from "shot and then run over" (note that the bill allows "dispatching" animals that are wounded but not killed on the road, so there being a clear bullet/arrow/etc. wound, even if it can be established that it came from the person who collected it and not previously and non-fatally, is not determinative of a violation), its considerably costlier to distinguish violations from permitted conduct, which makes enforcement harder and promotes violations.
    - masonic 7y ago
      autopsy necropsy
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
pvaldes 7y ago
> Does anyone have a take on how likely that consequence would be to happen? Very probable, has happened yet. To fake a car kill is a well known alibi for crimes against endangered species like critically endangered Iberian lynx. If people are allowed to retire the corpse and eat the animal, how the administration could look for evidence of illegal shooting or traps before the evidence is buried or eaten?. Anybody could just shoot, and then other people could use a SUV and have a free pass to violate any hunting law. On the other hand, in most countries meat for human comsumption must be examinated by a licensed veterinary to avoid spreading diseases to cattle and people. Ill and confused animals are more prone to end as roadkills. Rabies, roundworms or Trichinose could increase amongst human population.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

Apocryphon 7y ago

Why not decompose the carcass if you're doing this for ecological reasons? Encouraging consumption just makes it seem like a cruel not-solution for the poverty problems in this state.

merpnderp 7y ago
A lot of people like wild game. And why let it go to waste, especially when it would likely be displacing some other form of food consumption?
- Apocryphon 7y ago
  Unless you manage to luckily find a fresh kill, isn't it generally a bad idea to eat meat that was left out in the sun on the road for an indefinite amount of time? Even if you cook it?
  - HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
    Around here, some nights it seems that the deer are trying to get run over! I have literally, no joke, come around a bend to find two deer fighting in the middle of the road at 10:30pm. I see fresh roadkill (as in: wasn't there yesterday) pretty often on my drive to work in the mornings.
    - Apocryphon 7y ago
      Right, but the question is that roadkill fresh enough to be cooked for consumption? It's one thing if you killed it yourself and bagged it up to be cooked, it's another if that deer had been laying there all night. Unless, it's somehow sanitary or safe to eat raw meat that was also left outside for the same amount of time, so long as you cook it thoroughly after.
anon1m0us 7y ago
In areas where people are hungry, hitting a deer and being forced to leave it to rot on the side of the road is a real tragedy. One deer is enough meat for a whole family for many months.

modzu 7y ago

"While roadkill cuisine may not yet be mainstream" (like it will be someday) "stereotyped hillbilly eating roadkill has been replaced by an environmentally and food conscientious middle-class urbanite" lol am i reading the onion?

waffleguy 7y ago
Hey! Don’t ruin it! If we convince rich and upper middle class people to eat garbage, then good food will be less expensive. Soon, everyone will enjoy caviar!

fatnoah 7y ago

I grew up in NH. They have a different approach: https://www.fosters.com/news/20181006/roadkill-for-dinner-programs-salvage-meat https://www.fosters.com/news/20181006/roadkill-for-dinner-pr...

thrower123 7y ago
In Maine people used to seek out the local wardens to get on the list for moose hits because they liked moosemeat. It's pretty sickening driving south, where deer populations are so thick and there aren't the winters and hunters to check them, to see so many roadkills in the ditch just rotting and going to waste.

aosmith 7y ago

Why is this illegal to begin with? I grew up in Michigan and it was very common to call a charity to collect the meat after hitting a deer.

HeyLaughingBoy 7y ago
In Minnesota they take them to the International Wolf Center to feed the pack (if within 150 miles I believe).

chayesfss 7y ago

I’ve eaten a lot of roadkill. Most often a lot of the meat is tainted and can’t be used. You can’t really see that driving from your car thinking why doesn’t someone just eat that but you might just get a single back strap from road kill, or just a breast from a turkey. Again, it’s not ever too easy and you’ve got to be careful so who’s going to do that for a family? On top of all that you’ve got to get grinders, vacuum dealers and bone saws, all that being said I’ve got a rear shank I’ll be cooking this weekend.