Give Wildlife a Break

On Sunday, Brandon and I drove down to the Outlets at Castlerock. On our way we saw a beautiful deer on an embankment on the side of the road - my awe of this incredible creature soon turned to pure terror as I realized that cars were screaming by her at 70+ mph. I watched speechless out my side rear mirror as she nearly bolted into traffic and then quickly darted back. Safe for now, but I suddenly became so angry - so conflicted - about being part of this human race.

My drive to the Nike Outlet was just as consumer-oriented as the next person, and I rely on our highways as much as anyone else, but I realized at that moment the sheer impact of humans on the world around us.

I read an article a couple weeks ago about relocating prairie dogs to make mass transit to the Denver International Airport. On the article comments people posted that they would like to use the prairie dogs for shooting practice and similar ignorant ideas. As humans, we have become arrogant that our way of life should supersede all else, and we should take a step back to think about that.

Each year in the United States, there are about 253,000 vehicle-animal collisions and another 1 million vertebrates are run over every day in our country, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.

While it's impractical to think that we should all hang up our keys and park our cars for good, it's important for us to realize that we are also not alone in this world and that we need to do everything we can to be more aware of our surroundings. I have to take my hat off to some of the work being done by the USDOT Federal Highway Administration, as they have made an effort to make more signage noting wildlife populated areas, as well as pulled together a report on Linking Habitats and Reducing Roadkill (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/wildlifecrossings/main.htm). The report outlines how some communities have been able to add tunnels, underpasses and culverts to allow animals to naturally migrate and avoid highways.

Reducing the amount of animal-vehicle collisions will save millions of animals annually and hundreds of humans who also die in these accidents. Like everything else, knowledge is power, so encourage people to support these types of programs, so we can keep our roadways safer for all.

When we drove back by the area where the deer had been gracefully running just an hour earlier, she laid there on the side of the road. A car stopped behind her, her body lifeless. I cried for her - I was angry for her.

I decided to use her as a way to teach others that roadkill may be part of our society, but it doesn't have to continue. There are ways we can end this, just like every other challenge we face.