Monday 9 April 2012

Dodging wildlife, avoiding collisions, my moose







Moose are on the move, as are bears and deer.
These are moose we spotted in Algonquin Park 2 years ago. It took some time and effort, and a stay in a motel nearby, then an early start!
It was well worth it, despite the dang mosquitoes.

You can see where they suffered with ticks.





I've written lots about this issue: Deer collisions in Canada: costly economic toll. Having found a deer carcass in our ditch, while doing my spring cleaning, and having come across another carcass, while biking last year, it concerns me.

Beer, deer, moose, all of these critters are huge, heavy and can cause terrible damage to people, themselves and things.

This is a guest post, by a Muskoka resident:
We were at the hospital for 8 hours. She had no broken bones, did not need any stitches but we helped the nurse remove between 50-75 pieces of chard glass from her face. Her eye glasses most likely saved her eyes. Today there is little evidence on her face that she was in an accident. Unfortunately she did get jolted hard enough to prompt a whiplash and suspicion of a mild concussion. She is back to work part time but has many Doctors appointments to deal with all her aches, pains and headaches. 


 The Mile Hill area on Highway 17, north of Sault Ste. Marie, has been identified as a high wildlife collision area. This is where the MTO has installed special systems.

There are several things the MTO is doing. Here is one report from Today's Trucking...



Dodge the Deer: Wildlife-Detection System Means Safer Roads
Today's Trucking News
NORTHERN ONTARIO — The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is taking some extraordinary (and quite space-age) measures to cut down the number of truck-animal collisions.
This type of wildlife detection system uses infra-red motion sensors to continuously monitor the highway right-of-way. It detects the presence of large animals, such as deer, and automatically triggers a warning device, a flashing light, to alert the travelling public.

This one ran across the road in front of us
near Gravenhurst
Also, here is a study
Deer tracked with GPS in Ontario study
Natural Resources and Trent University are in Eastern Ontario tracking deer.


Avoiding deer collisions
CHCH News
Just last week in Stratford there were 21 deer collisions in less than a week. Ontario's transportation ministry says 11 people died from wildlife crashes.



Time for Hiburrrrnation
LOCAL2 Sault Ste. Marie
According to the North American Bear Centre, website, the Ontario Black Bear is one ... There are currently 75,000 to 100,000 Black Bears in Ontario. They can weigh up to 500 lbs!

3 comments:

Michelle B. Hendry said...

I used to worry about hubby driving through Algonquin Park in the spring and fall. He said being hyper-alert was not an option!

Red said...

You are on a very important topic. How many birds each year are hit by cars?

Linda said...

Fabulous photos of the moose and the bear! We had a mama and baby bear cross the road right behind us when we were traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway last September...I caught the baby's rear going over the stone wall...