Bye, Deer! Colo. Interstate Shuts To Shoo Animals

Colo. Wildlife Officials Hold Deer Dear, Close Part Of Interstate To Herd Animals Off Median

EAGLE, Colo., Mar. 6, 2009

(AP) A seven-mile stretch of a busy mountain interstate in Colorado was closed for more than an hour so wayward elk and deer could be herded off the highway median.

State wildlife officials say eight elk and two deer spent nearly a week on a 100-yard-wide median of Interstate 70 about 120 miles west of Denver.

The road was closed Friday as more than 40 people and two dozen trucks from state and local police, highway and fire departments helped herd the animals through a hole that wildlife officers cut in a fence.

Wildlife officers were worried that the animals would be struck and killed by traffic.

Traffic was diverted onto a parallel highway.
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See! Even the wildlife experience traffic jams!