When is National Roadkill Day? This day will take place on September 25 of each calendar year.
What is National Roadkill Day? National Roadkill Day is a day that recognizes roadkill as a useful, no waste way to feed America. This unusual and special day honors roadkill as a valuable, sustainable resource, and is celebrated with recipes, cooking displays, festivals, stories, outdoor activities, and animal crossing/driving awareness.
Why is this day being celebrated or observed? National Roadkill Day brings awareness to the value of roadkill—how to collect it, cook it, craft it, and consume it.
It is legal to collect roadkill in 49 states in America, in accordance with State and local laws (please check your state guidelines). Utilizing roadkill is no longer just a well-known secret with hunters or a unique sub-culture. It has become a sustainable way to feed society.
Instead of seeing a dead animal as waste for disposal, we can see it as a valuable food source that can provide many meals for hungry people across America.
Often throughout the US emergency service personnel will take fresh roadkill to any of our 14,000 soup kitchens where it is then prepared by skilled chefs and turned into delicious meals like roast, burgers, steaks, stew, shish kabobs, and BBQ ribs.
How should this day be celebrated or observed?
- Get outdoors and have a BBQ using game meat. Many people have never had venison, wild boar, squirrel, or possum. And believe it or not, over the years, tons of recipes have been created with roadkill as the prime ingredient.
- Get in on the Annual Roadkill Festival
- Learn about the animals that have the most potential to be caught on the roads in your area—when, where, what time of night or day do they hunt or travel?
- Make an effort to utilize everything that you have in your refrigerator.
- Slow down when driving on the road! Most animals are killed by drivers who are either not aware of animal crossing locations, don’t observe the sign,s or are just plain speeding down a road. Slowing down keeps you observant—both for animals and other drivers!
Who created this day? This day was created in August 2021 by Carolyn Arnold.