Have furbearer license? Roadkill now your right

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Elgin Public Works employee Gus Hernandez scoops a dead skunk off Preston Avenue in Elgin on Aug. 25. Hernandez is one of six people in the Elgin Public Works crew who handle roadkill clean-up duties.

Updated: January 14, 2012 5:07PM

Among the hundreds of Illinois laws that took effect last year, the so-called “roadkill bill” got little attention despite being perhaps the quirkiest of all.

Anyone with an Illinois furbearer license can now salvage pelts — or even food — from the unfortunate creatures that prove no match for steel-belted radials.

Republican Rep. Norine Hammond pushed the measure at the behest of a retired state conservation officer who thought it was a waste to allow animals’ pelts to rot along the roadsides. Hammond said it was an opportunity for some people to make a little money, and could benefit the state by letting citizens carry out the task once relegated to state highway crews.

The bill sailed through the General Assembly — twice, because lawmakers overrode a veto by Gov. Pat Quinn, who worried that motorists might suffer the same fate as the critters. One poke came from Rep. Lou Lang, a Chicago-area Democrat who asked what to do if a critter isn’t quite dead.

“Am I required to perform mouth-to-mouth on that dead skunk?” Lang demanded.

Joking aside, at least 14 states have similar bills, including those that let motorists’ keep animals they hit, though some pertain only to deer or bears, according to an informal survey for the Associated Press by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Illinois, furs — mostly raccoon and muskrat — brought in $1.2 million in 2010, up 95 percent from the previous year.

Pelts from certain wild animals are fetching the highest prices in years, due to a strong demand in Russia, China and other countries where they are valued more for their warmth than as a fashion statement. A raccoon skin routinely gets about $9, red fox $14 and muskrat $6.50, with top dollar often twice that amount.

There’s no way to know how many have taken advantage of the bill. The state last season — from late 2010 through January 2011 — issued 4,202 furbearer licenses, 389 more than the year before. AP