Wildlife is on the move

If you’ve driven around the area, you’ve probably seen a lot of wildlife lately.

Whether it’s deer, bears or smaller animals, wildlife is on the move this time of the year.

Everyone has an opinion about what the greatest thing is about living in Southern Colorado.

Donna Carr knows what she likes: “we love to be in nature.”

Being close to nature means that people and animals are usually not far from each other. That’s especially true on the northwest side of Colorado Springs.

“It’s heavily packed with deer in this area,” said Adam Noffsinger.

And especially true this time of the year.

Abbie Walls from Colorado Parks and Wildlife said, “animals are moving to lower elevations to get away from the snow, they’re searching for food, looking for love.”

In all the wrong places as it turns out. Their travels often take them near roads and when cars and deer get together, it can lead to bad things for both.

“It can definitely do a lot of damage and it has caused fatalities in the past,” said Walls.

In Southern Colorado there are plenty of collisions between wildlife like deer and cars on the road. But another thing that’s popular in this area is mountain biking and sometimes mountain bikers can experience problems with wildlife as well.

Like the drivers in the Rockrimmon neighborhood, the bicyclists that we talked to at Ute Valley Park have stories about their run-ins with deer.

Noffsinger said, “there’s been a few instances where they run right in front of you and you (have) got to slam on your brakes.”

So one of the cyclists that we tracked down follows a simple rule.

“(I) try to avoid dusk and dawn times for my personal safety,” said Noemi Estella.

Whether it’s in a car or on a bike, when it comes to wildlife in your path…

“Stop for animals,” said Carr.

This is good advice for drivers and bicyclists in our area.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, high-risk areas for collisions between cars and wildlife are Highway 115 between Colorado Springs and Penrose and Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Monument.