“There’s a lot of animals moving a lot of places. A lot of roads are between where they are and where they want to be.” -Colorado Wildlife Officer Tom Davies
As the days get longer and the snow melts aways replenishing our river systems, its the time of year when animals are once again on the move and in many cases crossing heavily trafficked roadways in Colorado’s high country.
Collisions are an inevitability but as the driving public we can take precautions to increase safety for ourselves and the wildlife migrating to their summer ranges. Â Be acutely aware of the migratory patterns and let that dictate our road speeds and avoiding driving at dawn and dusk because this is when the animals are most active.
Hopefully more wildlife fencing and wildlife overpasses/underpasses will be built by CDOT in coming years. Â Highly successful programs like the one along Highway 9 in Silverthorne have seen up to a 90% decrease in collisions coinciding with the construction of these wildlife migration friendly structures.
*Be heads up driving right now and tell your friends to do the same.Â
p.s. peep this badass CDOT vehicle gassing up in Silverton: