Deep, crusty snow piled up on fields in eastern Colorado after last week’s snowstorm is driving herds of pronghorn onto roads, and dozens of them are dying, state wildlife officials said.
Pronghorn are being hit by drivers in droves as they seek refuge from snow-covered fields, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials. The southeast state wildlife office said more than 100 of the animals had been killed on roads this week and the northeast office said 52 had been killed Tuesday morning alone.
The wildlife office for northeastern Colorado said all 52 pronghorn were killed at once. Mass killings can happen when a herd is hit while bunched together on the road after snow, officials said.
Drivers need to slow down and watch for pronghorn standing or sleeping in the road, especially at night, state wildlife officials said.
“Pronghorn can’t move quickly on icy roads to escape oncoming traffic,” state wildlife officials said. “And because pronghorn prefer to go under fences rather than jump over, many are trapped on the roads because snow is 2 feet deep and there isn’t room for them to crawl under the bottom wires.”
State officials said pronghorn don’t respond to baiting to lure them away from roads, so there’s little that state officials can do to remove them.
Until the snow melts, state wildlife officials are asking landowners across Colorado’s Eastern Plains to plow snow from their fields to give the pronghorn places to shelter off the roads. Meanwhile, wildlife teams said they will continue to monitor herds and remove carcasses.
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The Eastern Plains saw the largest snow totals during last week’s snowstorm and skated within a few inches of previous records set in 1946 during another early November snowstorm.
Elbert, Lincoln and southern Washington counties measured between 30 and 42 inches of snow, averaging 3 feet overall, said David Barjenbruch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boulder office. Those communities usually see less snow than Denver, making this “quite a rare” event.
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