One of those people is Margaret Mary Gerhard of Fence, Wisconsin, who doesn’t want things to go to waste.

Even an animal carcass.

That was a focus of her basic “roadkill kit” class taught at the recent Becoming an Outdoors Woman event, which the Michigan Department of Natural Resources put on Feb. 21-23 at Bay Cliff Health Camp.

“I want to emphasize that this class is all about a unique type of recycling — respectful, compassionate, sensitive recycling.,” Gerhard told her students. “It’s a way to honor the beauty and sanctity of these beautiful animals, these creatures here, and all that they can offer us, even in death.”

Margaret Mary Gerhard uses a stuffed animal and a towel to demonstrate how a porcupine roadkill can be used during a special class that took place on Sunday at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay. The class was part of the weekend-long Becoming an Outdoors Woman event, which offered outdoors-related classes. (Journal photos by Christie Bleck)

It’s recycling, but she also called it another type of foraging, something with which she’s familiar.

In a more serious vein, Gerhard called it a hobby of “recycling roadside tragedies and changing them into gifted treasures.”

Animals that have been struck and killed on roads are unfortunate side effects of traveling motorists, who typically have to deal with a damaged vehicle, not loss of life — unlike the deer or rabbit that is struck.

Gerhard wants to turn these events into something positive, although people might need strong stomachs to do so.

Compassion is a key word in roadkill recycling, but so is safety when driving to the side of a road to examine a deceased animal.

Gerhard urged collectors to turn on their vehicle’s flashers and move it to the side of the road, although it probably is better for people to avoid hitting the animal in the first place.

At night, for instance, a motorist should reduce vehicle speed and look at both sides of the road to be especially alert. If a deer does cross a road in path of a vehicle, day or night, the driver shouldn’t swerve since that could pose more danger to the motorist.

If someone does come across roadkill, removing it from the road is essential since leaving it in the original spot could increase the potential for the deaths of the animals that would feed on the carcass.

This is when a roadkill kit can come in useful, and class participants learned what goes into a typical kit.

Again, it’s important to reuse materials.

“You don’t need to buy anything for your roadkill kit,” Gerhard said. “Try recycling.”

However, she said people need to learn rules and regulations about harvesting roadkill legally, depending on the state. In fact, she recommended people call their state’s Department of Natural Resources for any clarifications.

Once legalities are determined, the collector can proceed — with the proper items.

Gerhard said roadkill kits can include reflective tape to put on clothes, leather gloves, medicine bottles, plastic bags, scissors, Turkish towels, a Sharpie for labeling, a knife, pliers and long tongs.

“Sometimes you want longer tongs — just because,” she said, leaving that statement to the class participants’ imaginations.

Now that a kit is assembled, what does someone do with roadkill?

One possibility, redneck jokes aside, is eating it, and Gerhard suggested people buy books that focus on this type of cooking, including “How to Cook Roadkill: ‘Goremet Cooking.'”

Gerhard doesn’t believe she has eaten roadkill herself, but other people have — and have lived to tell the tale.

There are many online articles dealing with this topic that offer tips on eating roadkill safely, depending on outside temperatures, how long the animal has been on the road, the condition of the animal’s body, and other factors.

Perhaps roadkill art is more palatable to some people, and that made up a big part of Gerhard’s Feb. 23 BOW class.

Gerhard showed off many crafts created from roadkill materials, such as a pin using beaver fur, a deer leg used as a walking stick, and a necklace made from driftwood and feathers.

The class got the chance to make their own crafts using actual roadkill Gerhard brought to the event — and no student appeared to be squeamish.

One of those students, PJ Fish of Trout Creek, believes crafts can be “upcycled” from used materials, so the roadkill kit class fit in well with her lifestyle.

It’s also environmentally friendly.

Fish pointed out that living in the Upper Peninsula, she sees animal bones on the side of a road.

“It’d be interesting to kind of clean up the highway too,” Fish said.