Highway Crossings for Wildlife

[lpetrich]

In California, world's largest highway overpass for wildlife on track outside L.A. - CBS News

Hoping to fend off the extinction of mountain lions and other species that require room to roam, transportation officials and conservationists will build a mostly privately funded wildlife crossing over a major Southern California highway. It will give big cats, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other creatures a safe route to open space and better access to food and potential mates.

...
One of the reasons it's special is that 80% of the money to build it will come from private sources, Pratt said. She's in charge of fundraising and is using P-22 - "the Brad Pitt of the cougar world" - as the poster cat for the campaign.

"He is world famous, handsome, everybody loves him," she said about the cougar that's been photographed in his park home with the Hollywood sign as a backdrop.

...
Wildlife crossings - bridges and tunnels - are common in western Europe and Canada. A famous one in Banff National Park in Alberta spans the Trans-Canada Highway and is frequently used by bears, moose and elk. The first one in California opened with little fanfare last October near Temecula, about 60 miles north of San Diego.

How wildlife bridges over highways make animals—and people—safer

Bridges for bears and tunnels for tortoises have significantly reduced the number of wildlife-car collisions worldwide.

...
There’s one solution, however, that’s been remarkably effective around the world in decreasing collisions between cars and animals crossing the road: wildlife under- and overpasses. Studies that looked at a cross-section of native species' deaths on highways in Florida, bandicoots and wallabies in Australia, and jaguars in Mexico, just to name a few, all show that wildlife crossings save money and lives, both human and animal.

“You can get reductions of 85 to 95 percent with crossings and fencing that guide animals under or over highways,” Ament says.

 Wildlife crossing

Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Wildlife crossings may include: underpass tunnels, viaducts, and overpasses (mainly for large or herd-type animals); amphibian tunnels; fish ladders; Canopy bridge (especially for monkeys and squirrels), tunnels and culverts (for small mammals such as otters, hedgehogs, and badgers); green roofs (for butterflies and birds).[1]

 

[Toni]

In California, world's largest highway overpass for wildlife on track outside L.A. - CBS News


How wildlife bridges over highways make animals—and people—safer


 Wildlife crossing

Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Wildlife crossings may include: underpass tunnels, viaducts, and overpasses (mainly for large or herd-type animals); amphibian tunnels; fish ladders; Canopy bridge (especially for monkeys and squirrels), tunnels and culverts (for small mammals such as otters, hedgehogs, and badgers); green roofs (for butterflies and birds).[1]

How cool is that!

In my area, sometimes we see passes under roadways for cows to move to and from the pasture and barn. It makes sense to have crossings for wildlife as well.

 

[Politesse]

I've seen the one in Banff - cool beans. I'll have to skedaddle down to San Diego if they ever build this one.

 

[steve_bank]

In Maine moose car collisions are a hazard, especially in tourist season.

Dec 14, 2017 · A year of car vs. moose: See where Maine moose crashes happened. There were 291 moose-car collisions for this period – a slight decline from the 305 crashes during the same period in 2015-16. Forty-seven of those crashes caused injury to the driver, including one fatality that occurred on I-95 in Howland. Mouse over the points in the map for additional details from police reports about …

Author: Www.Facebook.Com/Christianmilneil/?Fref=Ts


https://www.wideopenspaces.com/15-frightening-moose-vs-vehicle-collisions-pics/

 

[connick]

This thread reminds me of a radio call-in from several years ago.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCrJleggrI[/YOUTUBE]

Donna: "Over the past few years, I’ve been involved in three separate car accidents involving deer, you know with the population and everything. Each of these incidents they’ve occurred shortly after I saw a deer crossing sign on the highway. Well, my frustration is that Minnesota and North Dakota Department of Transportation would allow these deer crossings to be in such high traffic areas. I mean, I didn’t see them on the Interstate. Why are we encouraging deer to cross at the Interstate, I don’t get it, it’s such a high traffic area."

I have no idea if she was serious or just trolling but it was good for a laugh or two.

 

[bilby]

The intersection upgrade of the Logan and Gateway motorways, Mount Lindsay Highway, and Wembley Road has recently been completed a few km from our place, and as it is on the edge of the Karawatha State Forest and between the forest and the Berrinba Wetlands, a lot of effort has been pit in to protect wildlife, including a number of wildlife bridges to link the various reserves that are separated by the highways, and huge amounts of koala fencing.

The fencing is standard chain-link fence, but with a band of smooth steel on the outside (the reserve side), so animals that can climb the fences (particularly koalas) can't climb out of the forest, but can climb back in if they do somehow get out. There are also wooden posts at strategic locations to make it even easier for animals to climb back to the safe side of the fences.

It's early days, but there does seem to have been a reduction in roadkill in the area as a result.

 

[steve_bank]

In deer and moose country it is a real problem. In Maine they tried reflectors that directed headlights off the road to hopefully scare off critters.

In some sates road kill is sent to jails and prisons.

Skunks are not uncommon, 'dead skunk in the middle of the road'.

 

[ZiprHead]

In deer and moose country it is a real problem. In Maine they tried reflectors that directed headlights off the road to hopefully scare off critters.

In some sates road kill is sent to jails and prisons.

Skunks are not uncommon, 'dead skunk in the middle of the road'.

I had a couple squirrel and a couple bird feeders out in the front of the house. Had to stop that for a while. Every night at about 9:30 pm, a skunk would come along to feast on the scraps. Never saw it but sure could smell it. It's been almost two weeks now so maybe I can put the feeders back out. There's one squirrel who still comes up on my porch rail and looks in at me like "Where's my food?".

 

[Gun Nut]

We're coming up on elk season here... they're starting to bugle (mating calls).
We can get literally hundreds of females in a herd on one side of the road... and then a male calls on the other side and the road shuts down for a half hour while they all slowly ramble across. Of course, 15 minutes later another male calls back on the other side and the process repeats.
Almost hit a fox the other day that was trying to drag away some other roadkill.
Of course, I do live next to one of the largest national parks in america... so they were here first, have more rights than us humans, so everyone patiently tolerates their poor pedestrian manners and just enjoys the view while waiting for them to decide what side of the street they want to be on.

 

[Gun Nut]

In deer and moose country it is a real problem. In Maine they tried reflectors that directed headlights off the road to hopefully scare off critters.

In some sates road kill is sent to jails and prisons.

Skunks are not uncommon, 'dead skunk in the middle of the road'.

I thought that too when I moved to Colorado... turns out it's just the pot.

 

[TSwizzle]

Poor P-61 struck and killed trying to cross the 405

A mountain lion known for crossing the Los Angeles 405 freeway was struck and killed by a vehicle early Saturday morning, according to National Park Service (NPS) Ranger Ana Beatriz. The mountain lion known as P-61 lived in the Santa Monica mountains near the Sepulveda Pass, Beatriz said in a statement. He wore a radio collar around his neck so researchers could track his movements.

CNNl

 

[Fentoine Lum]

In deer and moose country it is a real problem. In Maine they tried reflectors that directed headlights off the road to hopefully scare off critters.

In some sates road kill is sent to jails and prisons.

Skunks are not uncommon, 'dead skunk in the middle of the road'.

I thought that too when I moved to Colorado... turns out it's just the pot.

Skunk weed? They don't test for that in CO?