Alabama Author Wants People to Take a “Fresh Look at Roadkill”

 ========= Old Image Removed =========1Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2018/12/Roadkill1.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1080;s:4:"file";s:21:"2018/12/Roadkill1.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"Roadkill1-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:19:"Roadkill1-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:21:"Roadkill1-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Source: Mary Scott Hodgin
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:4:"full";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:6745580;s:14:"optimized_size";i:640440;s:7:"percent";d:90.510000000000005;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:9732;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8897;s:7:"percent";d:8.5800000000000001;}s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:27155;s:14:"optimized_size";i:24837;s:7:"percent";d:8.5399999999999991;}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:122526;s:14:"optimized_size";i:113921;s:7:"percent";d:7.0199999999999996;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:3929;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3524;s:7:"percent";d:10.31;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:76595;s:14:"optimized_size";i:70851;s:7:"percent";d:7.5;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:36497;s:14:"optimized_size";i:33722;s:7:"percent";d:7.5999999999999996;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:65499;s:14:"optimized_size";i:60606;s:7:"percent";d:7.4699999999999998;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:49204;s:14:"optimized_size";i:45309;s:7:"percent";d:7.9199999999999999;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:8035;s:14:"optimized_size";i:7341;s:7:"percent";d:8.6400000000000006;}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:7144752;s:14:"optimized_size";i:1009448;s:7:"percent";d:85.870000000000005;}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1600939884 
1544006352

"Something Rotten, A Fresh Look at Roadkill" explores what we can learn from studying roadkill.

Source: Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

When North Alabama author Heather L. Montgomery sets her mind to something, she commits. Trekking through the woods on the side of Highway 65 near Cullman, she points to a spot a few yards away.

“This is kind of the environment that I was in when, ok I was driving down the road and I saw a turtle and it was just coming on to the pavement,” Montgomery says.

She thought to herself, ‘this turtle needs help.’ So she pulled off on the side of the road to move it to safety. More often, by the time she arrives, it is too late for that. The animals have become roadkill. But Montgomery, a naturalist and biologist, still stops, because she says their bodies have a story to tell.

“And then when I realized that there are other people that, like, paid attention to roadkill, it blew my mind,” Montgomery says.

North Alabama author Heather L Montgomery is an educator and a trained biologist and naturalist.

Mary Scott Hodgin
North Alabama author Heather L Montgomery is an educator and a trained biologist.

In her new book, Something Rotten, A Fresh Look at Roadkill, Montgomery shares her journey to find these people. She interviews a biologist in Australia who studies cancer in dead Tasmanian devils, and herpetologists who collect run-over snakes, classified as D-O-R, “Dead on the Road.” Sometimes these roadkill-obsessed scientists discover new species. Others study roadkill to prevent it. There are engineers who find “hot spots” where animals often get hit, then build tunnels for them to cross underground or set-up barriers to restrict access.

“How do we know where animals live? Well, roadkill. How do we know when they mate? Well, roadkill.” Montgomery says. “These are answers that we can find, that are sitting there by the road. We just have to ask the questions.”

Montgomery has published more than a dozen books, exploring topics like insect parenting and bugs with rude behavior. She writes for kids, but really for anyone who is not afraid of a little gross.

“Adults are fascinated by this material too,” she says, “but we’ve kind of trained ourselves to not look at things, and kids aren’t limited. They’re not inhibited yet.”

In Something Rotten, Montgomery describes beetle larvae that eat away at flesh and parasites that feed off of dead animals. She says the gore serves a purpose, showing what we can learn from what she calls the tragedy of roadkill. Armed with plastic gloves, hand sanitizer and a knife, she is always prepared to pull over on a busy road or highway.

“So this is what I carry with me, so that when I find an animal, either if it’s an animal that needs to be submitted to the natural history museum, or if I need to collect parts for scientists or if I’m going to use that body for educational materials, this is what I have,” Montgomery says.

She does not advise people to go out and collect dead animals themselves, not without training. But Montgomery hopes Something Rotten will reshape how readers look at roadkill.

 

Supreme Court to decide whether Alabama can postpone drawing new congressional districts

The outcome could determine what map the state uses in the 2024 elections and whether the high court will revisit arguments over the role of race in redistricting.

Q&A: Author of ‘Rocket Men’ details how Black quarterbacks helped move the NFL forward

John Eisenberg talks with the Gulf States Newsroom about the Black quarterbacks who helped change the NFL, as well as the players who never got the chance.

Q&A: Why New Orleans’ unhoused people face increased danger from relentless heat

Delaney Nolan discusses her report for The Guardian that revealed a spike in heat-related illness calls among New Orleans’ unhoused people this summer.

How a rural Alabama school system outdid the country with gains in math

Piedmont City schools notched significant improvement in math, landing in the top spot among school districts across the country in a comparison of scores from before and during the pandemic. Nationwide, students on average fell half a year behind in math, researchers say.

Video shows high school band director shocked with stun gun, arrested after refusing to stop music

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who is representing band director Johnny Mims as his attorney, said Tuesday that the incident is an “alarming abuse of power” that instead “should have been should have been deescalated.”

Protecting Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett, Bama and the Fight to Save the Manatee

The singer, who died Sept. 1, grew up in Mobile and had a huge following in Alabama, even if many of his devotees in the state were less than thrilled by his liberal politics.

More Front Page Coverage