Brief by Central Staff
Wildlife – May 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Roadkill is something many of us joke about, mostly because there isn’t much else we can do, brake or swerve as we might when a critter appears in the headlights.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife has understandably wanted to learn more about what animals die and where, but it never had the time or personnel to conduct a thorough study.
Even so, a detailed study is under way, conducted by the students, teachers, and parents in Hayden, a small town on U.S. 40 between Steamboat Springs and Craig. Many parents commute daily to one or the other, and they make a note when they create or see roadkill.
Accompanied by their teachers, elementary students don orange vests and visit the sites, recording species, sexes, times, and precise locations (thanks to GPS gear donated by the Orton Family Foundation).
Then they try to determine why the critter tried to cross the road. “Was it nearby water that attracted the animal to be there, or was it fields and meadows?” said Laura LeBrun, a fourth-grade teacher.
Their first report is due this month, and it’s a four-year project that will help the state government determine whether roads need fences, culverts, or something else to minimize the carnage, which extends from small rodents to deer and elk.
