HikeArizona.COM

Snick33 wrote:When driving on 260, in that area be on the lookout for elk, they are everywhere, and hitting one is a serious accident. I read that on 260, in Sitgreaves last year, there were six Elk accidents, per mile of road.

PRESCOTT - A local Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation committee member struck and critically injured a bull elk with his pickup after leaving a fund-raiser for the animal.

The accident occurred May 17 on Arizona 89 at about 10:30 p.m.

"He was standing in the middle of the road when I came around the corner," said Scott Glattfelder, who estimated the 3-year-old elk's weight at more than 700 pounds.

"Bull elk" means an antlered elk.

In Arizona, AZGFD reports that about 75% of vehicle animal collisions on I-40 from Williams to Winona, I-17 from Flagstaff to Stoneman Lake, and AZ-260 from Payson to Forest Lakes are due to elk. If you travel the 260 east of Payson, you may have seen the elk crossing areas that have been installed in the past decade or so.

An AZGFD study I found showed that prior to the elk crossings, an average of 12 elk were struck by vehicles in a 3-mile study area at Preacher Canyon. If you extrapolate the data to cover the 30 miles from Payson to the top of the rim, that would be 120 elk struck annually on just that segment of AZ-260. Which is about one every three days. With about 2.5 million cars passing through there annually, the odds were about 1:20,000 of you hitting an elk when you drove that stretch.

Now that the elk crossings have been installed, the rate of collisions has dropped by over 90% according to the AZGFD report (commissioned by ADOT).

Nighthiker wrote:That section is near the Turnoff to Tonto Village and Bear Flat. This type of fence is also located near Ponderosa Campground. They believe this has resulted in "herding bears" into the campground.

That's why so many miles of Swedish highways are lined with very tall fences.

friendofThundergod wrote:@big_load

That's why so many miles of Swedish highways are lined with very tall fences.

I thought those fences were designed to curb illegal immigration from its neighboring third world countries like Norway?

friendofThundergod wrote:hat's why so many miles of Swedish highways are lined with very tall fences.


I thought those fences were designed to curb illegal immigration from its neighboring third world countries like Norway?

azbackpackr wrote:I see a pretty big one at Grand Canyon almost every day, on the way to Grandview

Dschur wrote:You don't even have to call them in .. in Payson! They just wander on through!