Q: Why Did the Bobcat Cross the Road?
An SDSU biologist is learning how to encourage safer animal-crossing along SR-67.
A: Because she didn't know it was safer to use the drainage culvert.
When State Route 67 in eastern San Diego County was first built in the 1870s, it was a lightly trafficked stagecoach pass called the “Julian road.”
Today, it connects the booming suburban communities of Lakeside and Ramona. The uptick in traffic has also meant an increased risk to animals that have to cross the highway.
San Diego State University postdoctoral researcher Megan Jennings, funded by a grant from the California Department of Transportation, is studying how to make these crossing safer for the local wildlife, which includes bobcats, ringtails, coyotes, deer, raccoons, opossums, and many other critters.
Those that try to dart across the highway run the risk of being hit by cars. A safer option is scurrying through one of the 42 drainage culverts beneath the road, but little is known about what makes animals more likely to utilize a culvert.
Jennings is looking to find out by installing 20 motion-activated cameras outside the culverts and seeing which ones record the most animal traffic. Based on these recordings, she will report back to CDOT on ways they can improve the existing culverts to make them more animal-friendly.
Jennings is still collecting data and expects to finish her report in the next few months. Stay tuned for further details.
