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oneandoneis2 | 10 years ago

Hedgehogs aren't nearly as common road-kill casualties as people tend to think - it's just that their prickles break down really slowly, so we see more of their remains on the road than other animals. Not because so many of them die, just because the evidence hangs around longer.

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m0nty|10 years ago

Yes, it's a good point - it just looks awful so I suppose it registers. High levels of road-kill also indicate that there is enough of a species to become road-kill on a frequent basis. The wet Spring a few years ago caused a significant decline in some bird species, Barn Owls being among them. Biologists knew this because they were finding fewer road-killed owls. So anyway, that's part of the reason I said he "underplays" the road-kill effect, rather than using it as a way to outright dismiss his arguments.