U.S. 93 drivers: Don't feed but do heed the animals

ST. IGNATIUS - It's summer, and the highway is full of people - and animals - on the move. For local wildlife, it's never a good day for a drive in the country. Western painted turtles, skunks, black bear, deer, elk and moose often fall victim to vehicles because wild animals don't know to look both ways before they cross the road.

On her daily commute from Ronan to Missoula, Ronan resident Pat Lundgren thought she saw a swollen, deceased dog alongside the highway south of St. Ignatius in early July. Stopping to check it out, Lundgren realized it was a small bear.

"When I came upon the bear cub it really broke my heart," she said. "It was about the size of an 11-year-old boy, and chocolate brown."

Lundgren thinks the accident could have been avoided if drivers had paid attention and traveled at the speed limit. Plus, she said, the problem is compounded by summer travelers who may not understand the significant numbers of wildlife habitat along the highway from St. Ignatius to Ninepipe.

More than 400 turtles were found smashed in or along U.S. 93 in the Ninepipe area last year as they sought potholes of water.

Lundgren wants to see a large billboard placed along the highway to inform and remind drivers of the large variety of wildlife in the wetlands, and to drive with caution.

"We have a very special area … and animals don't have a voice, so we have to speak up for them," she said.

Of the large game animals, deer are by far the most common victim of road kill. Deer crossing signs are placed in areas where deer are frequently killed, according to Doug Moeller, maintenance chief with the Montana Department of Transportation.

In south Lake County, wildlife crossing signs appear along sections of U.S. 93 in Ninepipe, the Post Creek area, and through the Ravalli curves.

"Yet we still get a lot of deer hit," Moeller said.

From 1996 to 2003, along the U.S. 93 Evaro to Polson corridor, 195 vehicle versus wild animal accidents were reported with no fatalities, according to Jack Williams, department of traffic safety for the Montana Highway Patrol. But most of the accidents go unreported - perhaps as many as two-thirds to three-quarters, he estimated.

The Montana Department of Transportation - the entity responsible for picking up the dead animals - transports an average of 100 dead deer per 30-35 mile stretch along the Evaro to Polson corridor.

Deer are often hit at dawn or dusk, when visibility is impaired and deer are on the move. One fourth of motor vehicle versus animal crash—related injuries are treated in October and November at the height of the fall deer hunting, mating, and migration season, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

"Drivers need to look ahead, and expect something to be in the barrow ditch. When you do see and animal, don't assume it is going to stand there," Moeller said. "Don't take for granted that the animal is going to be predictable. A horn can startle the animal back onto the road."

Although deer are frequently injured and killed, the collisions rarely kill humans. The statewide human fatality rate in large-animal crashes is only zero to three per year, according to MHP statistics.

Nationwide, of all the people treated at hospitals for injuries sustained in vehicle-versus-animal crashes, slightly less than half were hurt from trying to avoid the animal. Fifty-four percent were injured by direct collision with the wildlife.

Large animals, such as horses, elk, and moose, are tall enough to hit the windshield and cause serious injury to occupants, Moeller said.

"Moose are worse than deer as far as crossing the road," Moeller said. "They are stubborn, and tend to stand their ground."

If an animal is hit, the driver should call the sheriff, MHP, or Department of Fish and Game. It's against state law for the motorist to put the injured animal out of its misery, or to take the deceased animal home for food.

"Private citizens can't take it home to feed their dogs or wolves or whatever," Moeller said.

If a driver hits an animal, it is important to report it so the carcass can be removed quickly.

Typically the department of transportation will pick up the dead animals and take them into a rendering plant in Missoula.

When an exotic animal such as a bear or mountain lion is killed, Fish and Game picks up the animal to study patterns.

During the winter when a warm-blooded animal gets hit, it goes to the barrow ditch and dies, then freezes to the ground, Moeller explained.

"It's almost impossible to pry them up, so sometimes they are tough to remove,' he said.

If the hit isn't reported, the dead animal gets covered with snow from winter weather and the snowplow, and can go undetected until the spring thaw.

Then they begin showing back up.

"It's not a real pleasant chore for our crews to go out there, especially when it's 90 degrees," Moeller said.

Road kill puts other predators and scavengers at risk if they feed on the dead animal.

"Seeley Lake is just inundated with deer. Eagles gorge themselves on the carcass, then they try to fly (unsuccessfully). It's a narrow corridor, and we get a lot of eagle kills there," Moeller said.

Whether deer or eagle, the kills are not going unnoticed.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation have worked closely with the Montana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to incorporate at least 42 fish and wildlife crossings into the U.S. 93 reconstruction project for the Evaro to Polson corridor, a 56.3-mile section of highway that passes through ecologically-sensitive tribal land. The exact size, location, type and number of crossings is yet to be determined, but the design will include nearly 15 miles of wildlife-proof fencing to direct the animals toward those under or over crossings.

Some crossings will be simple steel culverts, and other crossings may be concrete bridges above the highway.

Students in the Western Transportation Institute of Montana State University in Bozeman are currently recording tracks along the highway to determine where animals frequently cross, using strips of sand.

Each strip of sand is 100 meters long and seven to eight feet wide and holds a dump truck load of sand. When animals approach, they leave their hoof or paw prints on sand, enabling the teams to track movement.

The data will help determine where the wildlife fencing should be placed.

Graduate student Whisper Maillet spent her summer recording skunk, deer, bear, and - unfortunately - tire tracks in 62 sand beds that run parallel to the road from Evaro to the top of Ravalli Hill. Twice a week, with rake and clipboard in hand, she cautiously walked the highway alongside each strip and recorded the tracks.

For several weeks she had recorded frequent bear tracks in one of the sand beds near a patch of brush west of the highway through the Ravalli curves.

Last week, she found no paw prints through that section.

"I heard a report of a bear being hit here last week," Whisper said. "We're sad. The bear was way too bold. (The paw prints) would come right up to the road."

On Friday, she smelled a dead animal, but couldn't find it in the brush and grasses.

"He's a casualty of the road, but he's not going to get reported," she said.

Whisper is also looking at vegetation to make correlations between similar landscape variables where animals cross.

After construction is completed, the program will evaluate the effectiveness of wildlife crossing structures to help guide similar mitigation measures in the future.

In the meantime, drivers must keep their eyes on the road - and the edge of the road.

"There's just way too many distractions for (drivers): cell phones, stereos, televisions - plus traffic," Dale Becker, tribal wildlife program manager for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes said. "Realistically, people perhaps need to slow down and allow extra time to get where they are going. And be vigilant, both day and night."