My Roadkill

You are all no doubt wondering why the hiatus in our activity? The reason is not complex though the circumstances are emotionally far less easy to explain.
Sadly, we lost one of our key team members; Sarah, in August. Sarah’s passing left a huge void in our hearts and lives and nowhere more apparent than with her immediate family. Andy will continue to support his young children.
Sarah was vibrant, a principal driver for the start of the Myroadkill initiative and a founding member of the Port Stephens Womens Cancer Support Group Incorporated. Sarah’s good work will continue to provide dividends to the community.
Our charitable work will remain on hold for now. We will be back with our marquee at some point in the future to pursue our passion to educate others about the effect of roadkill on our native animals. Thank you for your support, it provided $48,042.60 worth of educational material in an effort to help minimise roadkill and $9,552.00 of cash, given directly to animal carer organisations to rehabilitate and release injured animals.

Let's hope that these fences help turn around the terrible roadkill stats for the Devils in Tasmania.
Let's also hope that educated drivers take initiative in these sensitive areas and slow down for our furry friends.

New fences installed to stop Tasmanian devils becoming roadkill A new Tasmanian devil fencing program is unveiled to keep newly released devils from being killed on the state's roads.

A big thankyou to all our customers from Hunter Wine Country Markets who made this $1101.00 donation possible - in particular those who provided extra injections. Together, we're helping good folk like those from Hunter Wildlife Rescue, NATF Inc continue their good work.

The Tasmanian situation is covered well in this audio artcle from ABC RN, Off Track program. The considerations aired are equally valid in every State and Territory as we head into the holiday travel season.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/tasmania-roadkill/7017914

Tasmania the roadkill capital of the world The scale of the roadkill issue in the Australian state of Tasmania is mindboggling. An average of 32 animals are killed on the roads every hour in the island state.

It's that time of the year when we consider driving somewhere to be with friends or family, or maybe just a well erned holiday. We're dusting off our ol'mate Rudolph at Hunter Wine Country Markets this Saturday and reminding you if travelling on our roads this Christmas to keep an eye out for animals - especially the new babies.

Another big weekend for the My Roadkill team - this time it's two big days at Hunter Wine Country Markets . We will be sure to have some knowledgeable stuff you can sink your teeth into, so call in and see us! Our beneficiary this weekend is the Native Animal Trust Fund (NATF) NSW, Australia.

Those unassuming poles... well they are glide poles to assist sugar gliders to cross our highways. Guidance on their specific location is provided by road ecologists. These poles mean more sugar gliders can keep on being cool sugar gliders and not become roadkill statistics.

The unassuming poles in this photo save animals from collisions with motor vehicles; can you guess how?
We will post the answer later or you can visit the My Roadkill team at Hunter Wine Country Markets tomorrow and learn more about these poles.

It's warming up and so are our herpien friends as they endeavour to catch some rays; sometimes that will be on our roads - give them space and time to cross in safety. You can catch up with the My Roadkill team on Saturday at Hunter Wine Country Markets and Sunday at the Hunter Elvis Festival market day.

What you may not appreciate when travelling at speed down our highways is the serious science and design that lays underneath to keep native animals off our roads. Find out more about roadkill mitigation efforts by visiting our marquee at Hunter Wine Country Markets tomorrow between 9 - 3 .

It's a sad reminder but animals on country roads should be considered a consistent risk. Slowing down in animal hot-spots by 20% will half your risk and only adds 2 minutes to an average 200km trip. If you can, avoid travel in high risk times between sunset and sunrise. Never swerve - brake hard and straight. 5.5% of serious accidents on country roads involve animals. Please share this message with less experienced drivers. http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/09/28/07/41/man-dies-in-vic-collision

Passenger killed in crash after driver swerves to avoid kangaroo in Glenalbyn, Victoria A man has died after the car he was travelling in swerved to miss a kangaroo and ploughed into a tree in central Victoria.