This page offers various information about the website -- a bit like a FAQ without the formality. If you don't find an answer to your question, be sure to drop us a line.
Safety first! Don't take risks.
We appreciate contributions by those concerned about wildlife-vehicle collisions, but please only collect roadkill observations when and where it is safe to do so. Some of the time, it is difficult to stop and photograph a roadkilled animal, which is why you can still enter the details and location after the fact. It is not worth getting hurt engaging in this activity.
Design strategy
We have tried to make this site easy to use by streamlining the data entry process, especially for mobile phone users. This also includes the single photo upload strategy, which automates the data entry process. As you dig deeper into the tool, you may find some additional features, available to registered users. We always welcome suggestions on how we can make improvements in this area.
Suggestions
We welcome feedback and suggestion to this site. We are hoping to serve many audiences with this tool, and if we can better fit your needs, we'd love to hear about it. You can use the contact form to send us an email.
New features
While there are several features still in the planning stage, our first goal was to have a replacement for the former version, with a few additional features. Over time, we'll be adding more features which we'll announce on the news page (whenever that gets built).
Why create an account?
The advantage with having an account is that all of your observations will be associated with it. As a registered user, you can view your observations on a map and download them to a CSV or JSON file. Also with an account, you can edit your observation and add as many details as you wish.
Why we collect anonymous observations
Simply put, the observations themselves are more important to us than the identity of the individual who observed it. Also, some people prefer to remain anonymous, and we respect their wishes, while at the same time value their contributions.
How to turn on your phone's geotagging feature
On an iPhone, go to the Settings page, then to Privacy, Location Services, and finally turn the feature on for the Camera.
On an Android device, open your Camera application, click Settings, scroll down and activate "Location tags" feature.
Important Privacy Concerns: Having this feature on is a privacy concern, and something you need to be aware of (google it). On CROS, we do not publish a version of the image you upload that still contains the Exif data with the GPS coordinates. All of the images are resized for display on the website, and that process strips the Exif from the image.
Data Input Sheet
If you prefer to record roadkill location data with a pen and paper, here is a data input sheet.
Copyright Notice
Contributors maintain the copyright of their work and images, and acknowledge the release of their work under the terms of a creative commons license.
Creative Commons
If you use any material on this site, you must credit the appropriate parties. This license enables you to use material you find on this site as long as you provide the appropriate credit to the organization (or in some cases the individual) who has posted the content.
View the Creative Commons 3.0 License.
If you use our work, we do appreciate being notified.
How to cite CROS
California Roadkill Observation System. (Year, Month). https://www.wildlifecrossing.net/california/
You are also welcome to use the format needed by your publication.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all CROS contributors. We couldn't keep this program alive without your support.
California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR)
Species data were originally populated using the CWHR species lookup table.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
We cross referenced these data with ITIS to provide full taxonomic information about each species.