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Below find an excerpt from the Belleville News-Democrat feature about Don Corrigan’s latest book “American Roadkill: The Animal Victims of Our Busy Highways,” by McFarland Publishing.

Also, tune in to hear Don Corrigan talk about his book on the Charlie Brennan Show on Tuesday, December 14, at 10:35, on KMOX radio (1120 AM).

Below from the Belleville News-Democrat:

From possums, whose favorite defense strategy of playing dead doesn’t work well on highways, to armadillos that often spring straight up when startled, animals have been losing the battle to cross roads at an alarming rate. Corrigan relates some of his favorite stories like the dead animal discovered by a newspaper columnist which had been painted over by a road striping crew. Or musician Loudon Wainwright III explaining there was no cosmic meaning about his song “Dead Skunk,” which relates to a “dead skunk in the middle of the road stinking to high heaven.” It was just about a dead skunk and they do stink, as we all know.

Read more HERE.

The Saint Louis Zoo has joined the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other zoos and aquariums as inaugural partners of the #FramingOurFuture campaign, which supports nature-based solutions to climate change.

Framing Our Future is a partner-based campaign aimed at zoo and aquarium visitors, as well as digital audiences, about how their actions to protect nature will support our climate.

The goals of the campaign are to educate and empower the public to take action on climate by advancing nature-based solutions in U.S. foreign and domestic climate policy, including protection of intact forests and restoration of coastal ecosystems. In addition, the campaign supports doubling U.S. investments in global biodiversity conservation funding streams that support nature-based solutions to climate change over the next four years.

Full news release from WCS is below and linked here.

Quoted in the release is Sharon Deem, DVM, Ph.D., DACZM, Director of Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine:

“The Saint Louis Zoo is proud to be an inaugural partner in this campaign. Human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems where we all reside. Taking a One Health approach to bring together different disciplines—human medicine, veterinary medicine, ecology, public heath, anthropology, economics, etc.—we can achieve the best health for people, animals and the environment. Together, we can solve global health challenges, which include climate change, emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19, pollinator decline, food safety, water availability, biodiversity loss and other planetary health issues.”

Award Winner Bill Straatmann

Bill Straatmann, owner of Straatmann Toyota in Washington, Missouri, was recognized recently for his promotion of native plants.

During its virtual Grow Native! Professional Member Conference, the Grow Native! program awarded the 2021 Grow Native! Ambassador Award to Bill Straatmann, owner of Straatmann Toyota in Washington, Missouri.

Native plants play an important role in sustainable landscaping by providing a food source and habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Native plants store carbon in their roots, and also prevent erosion and protect streams by slowing and filtering stormwater runoff. Healthy, well maintained native landscapes are vital to the survival of beneficial insects, wildlife, and people, and make our communities vibrant.

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