Citation. Sargeant, A. B.; Forbes, J. E. 1973. Mortality among birds, mammals and certain snakes on 17 miles of Minnesota roads. The Loon 45(1):4-7.   [1499  CC]

Abstract. Although many lists of birds and mammals found dead on North American roads have been published, few data are available for Minnesota. Rysgaard (1940) recorded road-killed vertebrates on 3 miles of Minnesota highway after a night of heavy rain, and Longley (1954) summarized findings of a 3-year study on highway mortality among small game furbearers in Minnesota. For other areas, McClure (1951) summarized many early studies and presented new data for Nebraska. Steinke (1953), Zimmerman (1954), and Vermeer and Switzer (1968) present extensive lists of animals found dead on highways in Wisconsin, Michigan and Alberta, respectively. Year-round surveys were conducted by Abbott (1958), who found 328 dead birds and mammals in 1 year on an ll-mile stretch of Virginia highway, and by Channing (1958), who found 137 birds and mammals in 1 year on 22 miles of highway in Washington state. This paper reports the incidence and species composition of birds, mammals and certain snakes found dead on 17 miles of rural roads in Anoka County, Minnesota, from July 1, 1964 through December 31, 1965. The study was conducted to determine the kinds and amount of carrion available on roads to mammalian predators.

Keywords. road kills, birds, mammals, snakes, Minnesota