More animals on the roadway due to their winter habitat
By Paul Hall on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
EASTERN OREGON – It’s that time of year again when our dear, deer friends start crossing the roads en masse. The mule deer migration has begun, and we’re seeing more deer than usual attempting to make it across our road systems as they move to their winter habitat. Deer move down to lower elevations in the winter where there is more food and less extreme weather.
Over the last several years, we’ve built numerous wildlife undercrossings throughout Oregon. This has been shown to reduce animal related crashes by up to 87%. Deer aren’t the only animals that use our undercrossings either! We’ve documented over 30 species that use them! We see everything from tiny bunnies to majestic elk making their way under our highways.
While we love our wildlife undercrossings (and we’re adding more to our system!), there are still many places where animals must dash across the road to get where they need to go. Keep an eye out for deer on the side of the road and be prepared for them to cross at any time, but especially around dawn and dusk. Where there is one, there are usually more!
