We have met the road kill...and he is us

The average deer collision causes $3,305 in damages, according to a report from State Farm Insurance. West Virginia was listed as the state with the highest risk for collisions, followed by South Dakota. Pennsylvania was number four, and Montana was number six. It’s a nationwide problem. [Jack McNeel, Antelope Learn to Look Both Ways Before Crossing Street, Indian Country Today].

From Sara Pridgeon's piece at The Sundance Times:

White-tailed deer across the Black Hills succumbed to epizootic hemorrhagic disease last year, an illness spread by biting gnats that usually affects bucks and fawns but eventually hit all age classes and both genders. Drought conditions led to deer populations concentrating near the available water sources, where gnat populations were high. [Pridgeon, Officials report quiet hunting season – Snow, depressed populations likely impacted harvest]

Rob Chaney writes in the Missoulian, where the above image appears:

In 2012, Montana motorists hit 4,754 whitetail deer, 1,977 mule deer, 220 elk, 72 antelope and 28 moose, according to state Department of Transportation records. They also hit 39 black bears, five grizzly bears, six mountain lions, 15 bighorn sheep, an uncertain number of wolves, and uncounted birds of prey and furbearing mammals. [Chaney, FWP serves up roadkill salvage permits online]

From a post by Alex Reshanov at EarthSky:

All this shifting meat consumption is a concern because, despite our middling trophic level, we’re quite good at sucking up resources. According to the study, humans use 25% of the net primary production (that finite amount of planty [sic, planetary, i think, ip] energy we discussed earlier), and food production accounts for 35-40% of that allocation. Given that agriculture isn’t even our only drain on global resources, the fact that we’re not at the top of the food chain is probably a good thing. [Reshanov, Humans aren't top predators, says report]

Is it 4:20 yet?