California has had a huge upswing in car/animal accidents. They have about 20,000 car/animal accidents every year. (Yeah, Michigan has around 50,000) Most accidents in California have been car/deer accidents, but they also have a lot of bears, elk, mountain lions, and wild pigs. They're already talking about what to do about the problem, and it looks like they may go the way of some other western states and put in animal overpasses or underpasses to protect their fuzzy friends. In the meantime, they've decided to work on the problem of cleaning up after the wrecks by allowing Californians to fire up their grills and chow down on roadkill. (Can't wait for this to happen on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians")

According to the Sacramento Bee, California is about to set in motion a new law allowing its citizens to pick up roadkill and celebrate with free backstraps. And actually, under the law, California residents will be also able to pick up elk, pronghorn antelope and wild pigs that have become ex-wildlife. I did a LOT of driving in rural areas in California - both northern and southern - in April. I saw one live doe and a few elk on a hillside, but never saw one roadkill deer. I think I saw 4 on my way home from work today.

Here in Michigan, you can take home roadkill deer. I've never done it, but I know people who have. If you're the one who hit the deer, you have first dibs on it. And whoever picks it up has to have a permit, so call 9-1-1 when you hit it and ask the officer for a permit. Here's the Michigan law.

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