Rope crossings saving possums at roadkill hotspot, researcher says

December 14, 2023 7:46 PM

Rope crossings saving possums at roadkill hotspot, researcher says. Rope bridges were installed at Ku-ring-gai in New South Wales in 2006 after a study found 600 possums (Ringtail possums and Brushtail possums) had died there in two years. Research suggests the strategy is working.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (9 comments total)

Sydney roadkill hotspot, Game Drive
posted by ryanrs at 12:11 AM on December 15, 2023

Excellent news! Interesting that the ringtails are travelling inside the bridge to avoid predators. I assume the bridge-builders designed it that way deliberately.
posted by davidwitteveen at 2:15 AM on December 15, 2023

The writer is really bigging up the “powerful owls.”
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:35 AM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

“Possum” means “I can.”
posted by whuppy at 5:39 AM on December 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Works better than the toad tunnel.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:20 AM on December 15, 2023

1. "powerful owls" is super fun to say
2. "powerful owls" is also super fun to type on a qwerty keyboard
   • try it! all those letters on the top row! and then the 'l's causing your attention to bounce back over to the right side! it's like a drummer hitting the hi-hat or something!
   • (it's not quite as fun to type as "powerpuff", but it comes close)
    
3. there are a lot of things i don't like about our species, and our tendency to build big roads with cars on them is pretty high on that list, but also
4. our tendency to build cute little bridges and tunnels for animals that would otherwise get pasted by those cars is pretty delightful

posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 7:52 AM on December 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Do they anchor it directly to trees? I'd love it if this were a thing in the US as well.
posted by BrotherCaine at 5:49 PM on December 15, 2023

Toad tunnels can work, though! I found this movie short that discusses both the pre-tunnel approach (volunteers collecting the toads and ferrying them across in buckets) and the effectiveness of the tunnels.
posted by demi-octopus at 11:03 PM on December 15, 2023

There's a great article here about the road crossing systems and strategy in Banff National Park. They fenced the entire highway in the park and built 6 bridge overpasses and 38 underpasses. They've been a huge success, despite initial skepticism from the public (and some of the wildlife, apparently it took 5 years for grizzly bears to start using them).
posted by lookoutbelow at 12:38 PM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]