Two weeks ago we mentioned a vehicle-wildlife collision mitigation project in New Mexico that had installed cutting-edge electro-shock mats to prevent wildlife from crossing a highway. The switch was flipped on those mats four years ago and there has been plenty of time to evaluate whether the ambitious and comprehensive mitigation project worked.
In a State Wildlife Research News exclusive report, over the next three days we’ll take a look at the wildlife collision problem at Tijeras Canyon, the state-of-the-art suite of solutions installed to solve it, and what has happened there over the last four years.
Today, we’ll take a look at the wildlife collision problem. Does this highway resemble any that you worry about?
Read part one of the story here.
Photo: I-40 east of Albuquerque, NM. Photo credit: courtesy of the Tijeras Canyon Safe Passage Coalition.
I lived in the country for years and always was on the look out for animals crossing the highways. Now I live in the city and this little trick really works here too. If I see a deer, raccoon, dog, cat, etc. I give a couple of little honks and they turn around and go back into the brush. It has worked every time. If I go down a highway, particularly at night, I give a little honk every couple of miles or so. They need to know you are coming and that they are in your way. Listen, even a squirrel who was in the middle of the road scurried out of my way. Please try this. It works!