Roadkill
Cycling in Japan has introduced me to animals I have never seen before. Before I came to Japan, the only time I'd ever seen a monkey was in the zoo. Here it's not uncommon to see them racing down the hills around Kyoto. On my rides I've also encountered snakes, crows, and all kinds of insects I've never seen before.
What surprises me, then, is the lack of roadkill (roadkill is American slang for animals that are hit by cars and are left in the roads).
Before coming to Japan, I lived in rural Pennsylvania in the USA, where there was lots of wildlife, including skunks, raccoons, badgers, squirrels, chipmunks, and even bears. During rides, it wasn't unusual to pass roadkill several times. Sometimes it is even dangerous, both for cyclists and drivers.
For example, if an animal (especially a big one like a deer) is hit and left in the road, bikes and cars have to swerve to avoid hitting it, sometimes coming close to crashing.
A friend of mine once even crashed into a deer while mountain biking (the deer died, but my friend was OK).
In Japan, though, I haven't seen roadkill even once. I'm not sure if there are fewer animals hit by cars here, or if the cities and towns are just better about cleaning things up.
In any case, I'm happy not to encounter any roadkill here, since it's not very attractive, and it doesn't smell very good either.
Roadkill
日本で自転車に乗っていると、見たことのない動物にお目にかかることがありますネー！私が日本に来る前、サルは動物園でしか見たことがありませんでした。京都近郊ではサルの群れがキキー！と山を下っているところに遭遇するのは別に珍しいことではありません。その他、自転車に乗っている途中に遭遇するのは、ヘビやカラス、初めて見る昆虫などなど。
で、私には驚いていることがある。それは、動物の死骸 （roadkill：車にはねられそのまま路上に放置されているカワイソーな動物のこと） が無いということデース！
日本に来る前、私はアメリカはペンシルバニア州の田舎に居を構えていたのですが、そこはスカンク、アライグマ、アナグマ、リス、シマリス、さらにクマといった野生動物で溢れていました。 彼らはサイクリストにとっても車のドライバーにとっても危険です。
例えば、もしある動物 （とりわけ鹿みたいにでっかいやつ） が、車にドカンと轢かれてお陀仏になり、そのまま道路上にほったらかしにされていることを想像してみてください。自転車や車は、よけないといけないでしょう？ギリギリぶつかりそうになることもあります。
私の友人はマウンテンバイクで走っているとき、鹿にクラッシュしました。（その鹿は死にましたが、私の友人はOKでした。）
でも、日本ではroadkillを一回も見たことがないのです。その理由が、車にはねられるような動物が少ないからか、市町村がさっさと片づけてくれているからかはわかりません。
どうであれ、私はこの日本でroadkillに遭遇しないことを喜ばしく思っています。あまり魅力的でもないし、いい匂いもしないしネ！
[コメントについて]スパム防止のため、半角英数のみのコメントは拒否されてしまいマース。でも、１ヶ所でも全角スペースを入れると、投稿できますネ。どんどんコメントしてくだサーイ！ちなみに今のところ、ジェイコブは日本語があまりわかりまセーン！
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Dear Neo and Baba,
Thanks for your comments. I agree that it's very sad to see roadkill. I think in the US it's so common that people have become used to it and it's not as shocking as it is here in Japan.
I like the idea of using the deer for food. Is hunting deer legal in Japan? Maybe it would help keep the populations in check.
ジェイコブ
2days ago, my dad's friend killed a little deer by car. We cooked and ate it. We think it is the best way.
Nowadays, increase of deers is one of the big problems for the woodman.There is nobody to kill them in the forest. They are free.
Cattle, pig and chicken are much poorer.
By the way, the US people drive the car much faster than Japanese. I think that's why you see lots of roadkills.
Hi! Jacob.
I saw roadkills sometimes even in Japan. They are poor cats and dogs.
I have buried them several times, and said "Namu ami da butsu."
Once, on the road I met danball-box that was pechankoed by automobile.
In that box, there are 3 pechankoed poor little kittens.
I said "Holy shit!"
I felt huge anger.
道路にほったらかしの動物の死骸、日本でも私はたまに、というより、よく見かけて胸を痛めておりマース。それらはかわいそうな、犬や猫たちです。
クルマにひかれまくって干物のようになった死骸はほっときますが、ひかれて間もない死骸はさすがに見捨てておけず、こっそり土に埋めたこともあります。
一度は、段ボール箱がクルマに踏みつぶされており、箱を開けると赤ん坊のネコちゃんが…。
私は、「こんなクルマに轢かれるようなところにネコを捨てるなーーーー！！！！」と怒りで目の前が真っ暗になったのでした。
でも、アメリカではもっとRoadkillが多いのですね…。うーむ。
Thank you for your reply. I think you are correct about the activity of the animals in the US. I also think that the deer populations in the US often grow too big and they overrun the land becasue they don't have any natural predators except for humans (kind of like the deer in Nara!). A very aggressive squirrel broke into my wife's parents house and went crazy, breaking things and tearing up the walls.
How is the riding in San Jose? I am interested in moving to the Bay area but there are many more jobs in San Jose.
ジェイコブ
I'm in the opposite situation after I moved to San Jose from Tokyo.
I had seen squirrels only at the zoo, but I'm seeing lots on the bike lane everyday in San Jose. Some are living and others are dead;-)
A strange thing is that dead animals are left in the bike lane mostly, though most of them should have been run over by cars on the car lanes. So, I as a biker have to encounter them frequently. I've almost hit a dead deer laid in the bike lane when descending a hill by bike... it was really revolting.
By the way, it looks to me that animals in the US are more "active" than those in Japan. It's just like the peoples? -- I don't know. Anyway, they don't seem to fear human and car, so they easily rush to the road. I guess this might be a reason why we see lots of roadkills in the US.