The mystery of who has been decorating dead animals along roads in Columbia has been solved.

Devon Devaughn turned decorating roadkill into a class project during the fall semester of her senior year at the University of Missouri. The photography student first experimented with the idea as a sophomore when she saw a dead raccoon along Providence Road.

�I wondered what that would look like if I dumped a bunch of glitter on it,� she said.

She has lost track of how many animals she�s decorated � she guesses between 40 and 60 � and most were found along a roadside after being struck by a car, although the list does include a fish and a mouse. A large number this semester were along Route K, near her residence in south Columbia.

�It started out as an urge,� she said. �It just kept going.�

The art became news in a Nov. 28 article in the Tribune, and the Columbia Missourian completed the story this week by identifying the MU student as the artist. The Tribune article briefly became a topic during the critique of her photos, and it amused Devaughn when she saw it.

�I thought I kind of wanted to keep it a mystery for a while,� she said. �I thought that was a good way to end my project.�

By the way, she got an A.

The Tribune quoted Madeline Stanley, who saw Devaughn working and watched but did not talk to her. Devaughn was painting in green and gold � Rock Bridge High School colors � and Stanley thought she might be a high school or early college student. The 21-year-old from Lee�s Summit thought it was odd that Stanley did not say anything.

�A couple of people did. There was a woman by B&B Bagel off Nifong. She thought like a cat or something of mine had been run over and I was doing a memorial in a strange way,� Devaughn said. �There was a man when I was in the parking lot of Hy-Vee off of Grindstone and decorating a duck, and he saw me putting glitter on it. It was actually really cool.�

A funny part of the article, she said, was Mike Schupp, area engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation, asking that the artist stop painting around roadkill because it is a potential distraction to drivers.

�I was curious as to how that was thought of as more distracting than a billboard,� Devaughn said.

Reached Wednesday morning, Schupp said it is not the artwork itself that could be distracting but the fact that the artist is working on the side of the road, adding the concern is for Devaughn�s safety.

When asked how she could best continue her work without safety concerns, Schupp suggested Devaughn find a parking lot to work in.

After beginning with glitter, Devaughn expanded to spray paint, then chalk paint because it washes off easier, and other items to decorate the carrion. A deer pulled to the side of the road was framed in blue, five cupcake papers pulled open like pink and white flowers surrounding its head.

An opossum on a field of blue with pink circles, sprinkled with glitter, was found by the Tribune on Route K.

Devaughn�s favorite is a photo of a severed paw she found on Route K near the Columbia water plant in McBaine. She said she painted it gold, painted the ground pink and added glitter.

For meaning in her work, she said, look at what she uses. �I like craft store items.�

They are cheap, plastic and disposable, Devaughn said. �Those qualities reflect how we treat animals sometimes.�