Fun with Road Kill

May 7, 11:18 PM EDT


Student Tries to Make Roadkill Pretty


EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- For the past several weeks, drivers near Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville have been noticing odd things about some of the roadkill on the sides of the area's highways.

Some of the dead possums and raccoons have been dressed in pet or human baby clothes and have had their claws painted with nail polish. The carcass of a deer has been adorned with gold paint.

The culprit is SIU-Edwardsville graduate art student Jessica May, 24, of West Lafayette, Ind.

In an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat, May said she is not an animal rights activist; she is just interested in seeing if people would give more thought to the animals if they were somehow given human attributes.

"I think this is my way of slowing down and paying homage to these animals," she explained. "I don't particularly find it offensive, but I understand why some people who don't understand what I'm doing could find it that way."

May, a 2006 graduate of Purdue University, said she takes precautions in dealing with the carcasses.

"I wear gloves," she said. "I don't know that I could touch it with my bare hands, because by the time I find them, they're pretty far gone."

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WARNING!!!!! actual images of the weirdo

http://a398.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/64/l_8c36a2f08042bd9113d93ee71648bd7d.jpg

http://a921.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/55/l_af4dbb3aa96c9408e1598859fabdc900.jpg

http://a173.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/63/l_e56418af94302bff84b9eea14ffd91cc.jpg

Meh. Its been done.

not on the road --- still in the vehicle!

[ATTACH]12717[/ATTACH]

She is littering and should be fined.

xoxoxoBruce;341739 wrote:

She is littering and should be fined.

Should she be making stew instead?

"Roadkill stew sounds mighty good!" - Jad Clampett
:vomitblu:

I don't care HOW fast you were going when you hit that animal, I ain't eating it!

Driving in to work this morning I noticed something in the center of the road. Uh oh, a little tan body. You know how they seem to line up *out* of the traffic path, and in the centerline or shoulder? This little guy was lying in the center of the road, pointing the same direction I was travelling. I could see a slender tail, and all four paws were straight out, pointing towards the opposite lane of traffic. As I rolled past I could see his little human face! OMG there was a dead monkey in the road! This was a surprise since the zoo, just two blocks to the south was normally so careful with their animals. I turned around and prepared to call the animal control, or the zoo or something. I drove back for a better look. When I got closer, this time on the "face" side, as opposed to the "back" side, I could see that it was an opossum. Not a monkey. Poor guy. Even in death he only got a second look because of a case of mistaken identity.

"Pretty" or not, it's still roadkill.

Dead and smelly, and now dressed in silly clothes.

Sad though.

I wonder if this is her work?

I find what she is doing very disrespectful to the animals.
hh

[ATTACH]12778[/ATTACH]

No wonder the car wouldn't start:greenface

If she really gave a shit, she would carry a shovel and give the critters a proper burial. She wants to "see if people would give more thought to the animals if they were given human attributes"? How does she know what I think when I pass roadkill? What would she have us do? I always feel bad for the dead animal; what does she want, impromptu funeral services? OK, I gave it more thought, and I think she needs to carry a shovel and some tiny tombstones and bury the poor creatures she professes to care so much about. Otherwise, she's just another 'deep artist' wannabe.

Burial?

Seriously? Why? One man's roadkill is another crow's feast. Or other various creatures that will eat the carcass. Indeed, several others might enjoy the advantage of burial, but I don't see anything wrong with just moving it out of the road. Pick it up and if you wish, but now you've got a biohazardous leaky bag of meat to deal with. Better it should be in the ditch. If it's in the city, I somewhat more strongly support having the animal control people come and take away the carcass.

Kinda dumb concept, my opinion.

BigV;343253 wrote:

Burial?

Seriously? Why? One man's roadkill is another crow's feast. Or other various creatures that will eat the carcass. Indeed, several others might enjoy the advantage of burial, but I don't see anything wrong with just moving it out of the road. Pick it up and if you wish, but now you've got a biohazardous leaky bag of meat to deal with. Better it should be in the ditch. If it's in the city, I somewhat more strongly support having the animal control people come and take away the carcass.

Absolutely. My point was to contrast that she has all these "feelings" with the point that what she is doing is an utterly stupid attention getter. She was trying to say that we don't respect these poor dead creatures, and offers dressing them up as an alternative. My suggestion is somewhat less ludicrous than dressing them in clothing, and somewhat more "respectful" then kicking the dead carcass into the ditch.

Just me and my love of irony and sarcasm. :)