DRIVING on country roads can be hazardous due to surface and weather conditions, but for anyone on the road regularly for longer periods, looking out for wildlife straying into their path is unfortunately also part of the picture.

It an unpleasant fact of country life that thousands of animals are killed on rural roads every year and are also a safety concern for drivers and passengers.

In Australia, kangaroos and wallabies are most at risk on our roads, but wombats, birds, possums, lizards and echidnas can also wander (or fly) into the path of traffic.

The problem is a global issue, with the only differences being the most common animals staring into oncoming headlights.

In the USA and Germany, deer find themselves knocked down most often, wild boar wreck the front of cars in Spain, especially in the north, and in the UK – most prevalently in Yorkshire – badgers find themselves unable to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Given the size of cars and trucks relative to them, animals are usually instantly killed – which can be a problem in itself by potentially creating a traffic hazard needing removal – but the other ugly outcome is where an animal is seriously injured and/or in shock, unable to fend for itself.

Wildlife Victoria and other agencies have a number of recommendations for drivers to keep themselves and wildlife safe – and in the event of a collision, there are phone numbers you can call to get help for an injured native animal.

This can be especially important when a mother is injured and a joey is in the pouch.

Avoiding collisions

Macropods (like kangaroos and wallabies) are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active at dawn and dusk, so drivers should be aware of this as well as road stretches where they are likely to encounter wildlife.

Tree plantations are often abundant in wild animal populations as they provide both shelter from weather and hideaways from human movement.

The grass on the sides of regional roads tends to be fresher from water run-off, making these areas favourable feeding areas and regular road users.

Slowing down during these times of day and in these parts of the country are sensible options if you cannot avoid driving; high-powered LED driving lights are worth installing if you find yourself on dark roads often.

Also important is respecting wildlife signs and considering poor visibility to give yourself time to avoid a potential collision.

But even with the best driving practices to minimise the risks, you might still find yourself faced with an animal hopping moving into your path with little time to react.

Driving experts generally agree the best option if a collision is unavoidable is to remain calm, brake firmly and keep the steering wheel straight.

Swerving might be instinctive, but it is usually the worst of all options, potentially causing a loss of control and you might still hit the animal anyway – and do yourself, passengers and other motorists harm; the first rule of all driving is safety first.

Always keep full control of your vehicle; it can help to rehearse what you might do if you find yourself needing to make a split-second decision – when the moment arrives you won’t have time to dwell on what to do.

Studies from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research conducted by the University of Adelaide have shown that a reduction in speed of just 10 per cent has the potential to reduce vehicle crashes by 20 per cent.

Not that panel beaters and automotive repairers in the regional areas mind the extra work that comes their way.

Hamilton A&T Autocare co-owner, Jason Jackson, said the proportion of car repairs he does caused by collisions with animals is very high.

“It’s probably close to 80 per cent of them,” he said.

“Mostly the front (is damaged), along the side, not much underneath.”

Mr Jackson said he had a simple solution to the hazards.

“Buy a four-wheel drive and put a bull bar on it,” he quipped.

“Don’t have a little car driving round.”

Response after a collision

If you do find yourself colliding with an animal, always ensure your own safety and that of others by making sure your car is well off the road and if possible, away from blind corners or double lines.

Use your hazard lights, and where applicable, your headlights to stay visible to other traffic, and put on a high-vis vest if you have one before moving around near the road.

The Animal Rescue Cooperative have published a series of recommendations if the animal is still on the road, beginning with moving it off the road if it is safe to do so, usually by gripping the tail and then checking if it is male or female.

Checking for a joey

Locate the pouch – most female marsupials have a small pouch opening at belly button level on the abdomen and positioning a towel at the entrance of the pouch so joeys can’t escape.

Open the pouch by pinching the fur or skin between your hands, then lifting to stretch the opening of the pouch so that you can see inside; use a torch to look right to the bottom of the pouch as newborn joeys can be very small.

Take note that some species may have more than one joey.

If there is no joey, check the teats of the mother - if one teat is longer than the other she may have been nursing and there may be a joey nearby.

Stay very quiet and still for 10 minutes or so and listen for a joey calling their mum – it sounds like a squeaky or clucking noise – an example can be found at bit.ly/3HhapDb

If you check for a joey and find one in the pouch, removing it must be subject to assessing its age; try to call a wildlife rescue service to get talked through the process – they may even be close enough to attend in person.

Hamilton Wildlife Shelter owner/operator, Shelly Burrowes, said she has had people take matters to an extreme in order to save a joey, including a woman earlier in the week.

“It had a small wallaby in the pouch and she didn’t know how to get it out,” she said.

“So she actually drove the whole deceased wallaby back and met me.”

Very young joeys are hairless and pink, and might still have their mouth fused to the mother’s teat, so removing the joey can cause serious injury – never do this without advice from a wildlife expert.

Older joeys will have fur and will no longer be attached to their mother’s teat, so you can gently and carefully remove these joeys from the pouch.

Never force the joey – if the pouch is too tight you may need to cut the pouch entrance open a little with round tipped scissors you may have in a first aid kit (be careful to shield the joey from the scissors so as not to cause injury.)

Do not worry if the joey cries or hisses and never pull a joey out of the pouch by any limb.

Instead, place your hand in the pouch and perform a scooping motion with your palm along the joey’s back, taking care not to snag the legs.

Put the joey into a makeshift pouch immediately and if there is someone else with you, use their body heat to keep the joey warm.

Take the joey to the nearest vet or as advised by the wildlife shelter – make sure the journey is warm, dark and quiet to minimise stress.

X marks the spot

Having a spray can of paint can be useful as spraying the carcass with an ‘X’ shows passers-by the animal has been checked.

“It is helpful,” Ms Burrowes said.

“It just means if I am travelling and I go past a wallaby and I see the ‘X’, I don’t have to stop and go back.”

She also affirmed the importance of getting the dead animal off the road.

As evidenced by the recent release of ‘Radford’ the rehabilitated wedge-tailed eagle near the Grampians covered in The Spectator on December 10, 2022, the bird appeared to have been injured by a car, something Ms Burrowes said isn’t uncommon with large birds of prey.

“They are often eating roadkill on the side of the road,” she said.

“So we do prefer if people pull the animals away from the road as far as they can.

“Wedge-tailed eagles in particular – they need time to run to take off.

“They can’t just flap out of the way small birds can.”

Carcass handling

Although ‘waste not, want not’ is a common ethos in the country, local laws state that – apart from moving a carcass for safety reasons – handling native wildlife, dead or alive – isn’t legal and penalties can be stiff.

One of the rationales for the current legal situation is to avoid incentives for people shooting or trapping protected wildlife and claiming it was a road accident, but an opposing argument is removing wildlife saves work for authorities and keeps scavengers from veering too close to roads – therefore compounding the problem.

In the USA, more than half the 50 states uphold the legality (some states require a permit) of harvesting roadkill and authorities in states such as Idaho use the data from salvagers (who are required to report) to consider where to build new wildlife crossings, put up fences and signage.

Making use of animals is usually considered for consumption by pets, however some people take this further.

Although a distasteful idea for some – human consumption is evidenced by the existence of several recipe books dedicated to the subject, and with titles such as ‘Roadkill Goremet (sic) Cooking’ and ‘Cooking Critters for Dinner’, there’s a surprising – or disturbing, depending on your point of view – database of opportunistic food dishes available.

In 2006, Kangaroo Island-based authors Patricia and Tim Leeuwenburg released a spiral-bound book titled: ‘Roadkill Recipes - A Cookbook for Visitors to Kangaroo Island’ which satirised the plethora of glossy cookbooks on the Australian market, yet carried a serious messages on conservation and road safety.

The idea might be considered macabre but was inspired by Patricia’s University of South Australia thesis on roadkill and Tim is a local GP who has been vocal in encouraging drivers to slow down and enjoy the wildlife, rather than risk a collision or worse still – to swerve and suffer a rollover.

The book and another similar one published two years later used sales contributions to support a local wildlife campaign, road safety and national threatened species projects.

Contacting governing authorities

For some people, a collision with an animal can be a gruesome and even horrifying experience, but dealing with the aftermath can be helped by the knowledge that it is not uncommon in the country and there are resources people can draw from.

Southern Grampians Shire Infrastructure and Sustainability director, Marg Scanlon, said the Shire is required by the Road Management Act to remove deceased animals, but relied on the public to make a report.

“All reports of deceased animals should be directed through Council’s Customer Service on 5573 0444 or online using our report an issue form,” she said.

“Deceased animals on state managed roads and highways can be reported to VicRoads by phoning 13 11 70.

“Injured animals can be reported to the following support services – Wildlife Victoria (03) 8400 7300, DELWP 136 186 (and) Wildlife Rescue 1300 596 457.”

There is also a webform for reporting at

bit.ly/3Hfmyc1