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California Roadkill Crew Seeks Developers for Dead Animal App

by Warren Riddle on September 14, 2010 at 06:30 AM

map of roadkill in california
The University of California, Davis is currently seeking software engineers to develop a new wildlife app. The application process might attract an incredibly random and diabolical candidate pool, though, varying from animal lovers with an interest in migratory patterns to would-be 'Dexters' with morbid blood splatter fetishes.

According to the New York Times, the school's California Roadkill Observation System (yes, that's a real thing) aims to "understand and try to influence the factors that contribute to roadkill." In pursuit of its mission, the organization (particularly Ron "Dr. Roadkill" Ringen) finds and records the flattened remains of wayward wildlife. Ringen hopes to learn more about the causes and effects of vehicular varmint-icide, which apparently claims one million animals every day in the U.S. So far, Ringen has recorded and posted data for over 1,400 deceased critters, and the concrete carrion ranges from tiny birds to massive bulls and bears.

A smartphone app would equip citizen volunteers with an easy way to upload photos, locations and specie identification to the group's website, so that researchers can perhaps discern patterns, and create preventive measures. Hopefully, those app-enabled volunteers will leave the carcasses in situ, though, because UC Davis could just be taking road-pizza off the plates of honorable, hardworking hillbillies everywhere.

Tags: gps app, GPS apps, GpsApp, GpsApps, road kill, roadkill, top, uc davis, UcDavis, University California Davis, UniversityCaliforniaDavis, weird

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