You smelt one of the things after a couple of hours in the sun?
Here in the UK we get track kill every so often. Almost never edible except once a DMMU (RDC) dropped a pheasant right at my feet. Even without hanging it made a pretty good lunch. (The guy I was working with went an interesting shade of green). The big stuff takes too much impact to kill it to be usabale. Cows are a disaster... all those stomachs. We had about ten (difficult to count the bits) hit by a DMMU doing 85 on a grade crossing (farmer hadn't got permission). Bits wet everywhere... mostly both sides of the barrier... the one with the local control in it. i never did figure out why the guys didn't get it hosed down. the flies were awful. that lot derailed the train. By torchlight (later the same day) you could see the ripple stopping from 85 in about 200 yards on the balast put ito the steel frame.
We had air hostesses living in the houses backing onto that bit of line. one of them came home to find half a cow in her back yard. unphased she just wandered up to our guys at the crossing and asked "Have you lost half a cow"?
When line speeds are increased the animal fatalities go up for a week or two. The smell can be awful.
We used to use horses for shunting [switching] (before my time). Old guy I knew said that if a horse sensed a problem it was long gone before any human started to follow... fast.
I also used to do a lot of research. One of the things I should have a copy of somewhere... One of the African railways (West Coast I think) the train hit a wild elephant and crippled it. The locals and passengers killed it, butchered it and ate much of it before they put the train back on the track (2' or 3'6" gauge)... now that's sensible!
Most animals (like people) get caught out by the speed and quietness of the things... especially with the more hi-tech modern things. When they ride smooth they don't tell you they are coming.
