Due to the nature of my job, I spend quite a considerable amount of time driving along the A303. I’ve always thought it quite a nice road - you definitely get a lot of speeders, but overall it’s a pleasant stretch. 

In the past, from time to time, I would notice roadkill and feel sad for the poor animal who met their end in such a horrible way, as well as for the driver who (in some cases, not all) may not have had a choice with regards to hitting it. But, I am sure it is not my imagination that the situation of a roadkill has gotten worse in recent months. 

Now, I’m by no means a city girl. I’m from a fairly rural area of northern Scotland and no stranger to sharing the road with beasts big and small. I remember as a teenager, cycling in the countryside near my town with a friend, only to turn a corner and be met with a herd of cows! 

I am lucky enough to never have been in a situation where I have or have been likely to hit an animal with my car. Apart from a couple of near-misses with pheasants, never have I had to emergency stop or swerve. Never have I had to see a deer on my windscreen or feathers stuck to my wheels. I know many people who have been faced with that situation, and so I know it can be terrifying. Not to mention extremely dangerous.

However, over the past couple months as I have being driving along the A303, particularly eastbound, I have seen countless dead animals on the verges. On one occasion this week, I counted no fewer than five deer and dozens of birds, rabbits and other species - and I was only travelling about 15 miles!

The A303 has previously been highlighted, by the Advertiser and other sources, as being one of the most dangerous roads in the area for accidents and - tragically - fatalities. But what I hear less about is the sheer number of animals that lose their lives upon it. 

Is it a case of slower clearing, or have people become more careless with their speed? Is it a road that is getting busier as time goes by, and people have had no other option but to collide with the creatures, or is it that it’s become so normalised that people are failing to report to the relevant authorities? 

Safe driving campaigns, and welfare charities looking out for deers, badgers, and other wildlife seem to be able to do little more than plead with the public to be aware when driving, and push for more signs warning drivers of the presence of particular species in the area.

But it’s certainly seeming like something more needs to be done. A campaign by the Post Office estimated that one million animals are killed on the UK’s roads each year. When I think how many I see on the A303 alone, that initially astonishing number suddenly doesn’t seem quite so steep.