Busy highways are incredibly dangerous for the wildlife that lives around them. Often, migration routes or feeding lines intersect, and it’s up to the animals to learn how to navigate the traffic.
Often, it’s a one-and-done situation, and yet more roadkill is left for the road sweepers to clear. It was looking like this may be the case with a fawn, separated from its mother on the other side of a separation fence on Highway 240 by Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington.
Stranded and clearly overwhelmed by the heavy traffic, the fawn was trying to get to its mother. At some point, it was going to make a bad decision, and that wouldn’t end well for it, or any vehicle involved.
Sheriff Mike Clark and Deputy Ortega stepped up to the plate and, driven by their need to protect and serve, looked for a way to bring the fawn safely over the highway separator to its yearning mother.
A Community Effort
Sheriff Clark pulled over initially to protect the fawn, and Ortega arrived shortly after for backup. Between the two of them, they ensured that the young deer didn’t spook and run onto the highway. However, they were still a little out of their depth.
Seeing the two cops attempting to wrangle the fawn alone, a passerby pulled over to join in the fun. Alexandria and Lisa Goforth came armed with a blanket they then used to throw over the fawn. With its senses slightly dulled, it was easier to coerce the fawn over the separator fence and back to its waiting mother and sibling.
Hometown Heroes
With so much friction in the world, it’s heartwarming to see members of the public and the police force come together as a team to do something positive. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office thanks the two citizens for their help in assisting the officers with their wildlife woes.
This time, at least, the fawn managed to cross the busy highway with a little help from some friends. It’s a quick and hard lesson for wildlife living beside busy roads, but if they want to live a long life, it’s one they have to learn, one way or another.
It’s not just the animals that risk being turned into mincemeat either. According to an article published by ScienceDirect, an estimated 1.5–2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions occur in the US every year, and a startling number of these result in fatalities.