Summary

In “On the Road Again”, Roach examines animals who jaywalk. Throughout the chapter, Roach speaks with Travis DeVault, a wildlife biologist who works for the National Wildlife Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio. He is currently researching why animals who see an oncoming vehicle, do not get out of the way before collision, even when there is time to do so. As they drive down the road at dusk, deer emerge from the bordering woods. The author notes that “animals take to the road for the same reason people do: the going is easier” (193). While the deer have evolved to determine the rate at which a predator is approaching, vehicles moving at “an unnaturally fast [pace] overtax the prey’s sensory and cognitive gifts” (195). When drivers swerve to avoid hitting an animal crossing the road, the...