Squirrel Bridge

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Holly9937

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Jan 20, 2005
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I love it :D And even better, its only for 3 squirrels :laugh: I thought this was funny, I had to share!!!

Czech town builds unique bridge for squirrels

PRAGUE (AFP) - A Czech town has built a 1,500-euro (1,880 dollar) bridge to protect a handful of squirrels from a busy road, but do not know if they will use it, the town's mayor said.

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The seven-metre (23-foot) high cable bridge, attached to two trees, spans a road that divides a large park in Sokolov in the west of the country near the German border.

"We think this construction is unique in the world. I myself witnessed two dead squirrels on the road in the space of two months and I felt we had to do something," Sokolov mayor Karel Jakobec told AFP.

At the moment the park is home to just three squirrels.

"The idea is that instead of going down trees and crossing the road to get to the other side of the park the squirrels will go up and across. But we don't know yet if it will work," he added.

The town is spending a total of 290,000 koruna (9,920 euros), most of it donated, on the park including a row of trees and shrubs along the road.

"We have already arranged for two more pairs of squirrels to be brought from an animal rescue centre and we are hoping that the squirrel population in the park will now grow," added Jakobec.

Squirrels are a protected species in the Czech Republic.

"Some people in the town think this is nonsense and we should be spending money on people rather than squirrels ... but it's not," insisted the mayor.
 

kveeti

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Jun 12, 2002
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I think that's rather nice myself.

Near here, the Narcisse Snake Den Area has the world's largest concentration of garter snakes.

Highway 17 cuts across the snakes' migratory paths. Up to ten thousand snakes a year were historically mashed beneath vehicle wheels while trying to get back to winter dens in September or out to summer marshes in April and May.

They lined the ditches along the migratory route intersecting Highway 17 with miniature, foot-high "snow fences" that force the snakes to use six-inch diameter, sub-highway culvert "tunnels" to cross under the road. Because some serpents still squirm through tiny holes under the fences to cross the highway, signs posted during migrations urge motorists to slow down and enable snakes to move out of harm's way.

The ingenious solution seems to have worked. Since the fences, Roberts has counted far fewer fatalities - less than a thousand per season.
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Ummm...If the park is home to 3 squirrels, and 2 already got smooshed, doesn't that leave just one?

Actually, this type of thing is fairly common. I couldn't even estimate how much money is spent on attempting to prevent road casualties in migrating elk, deer, and antelope in Wyoming and Colorado. Overpasses are more successful for antelope, while deer and elk will use underpasses. We also use fencing, and they are installing motion detection cameras that trigger a flashing light to warn motorists when animals are on the median.
 

Chill

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Jun 16, 2005
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OrionGirl said:
Actually, this type of thing is fairly common. I couldn't even estimate how much money is spent on attempting to prevent road casualties in migrating elk, deer, and antelope in Wyoming and Colorado. Overpasses are more successful for antelope, while deer and elk will use underpasses. We also use fencing, and they are installing motion detection cameras that trigger a flashing light to warn motorists when animals are on the median.
Here the only warning we get is:
 

judgemax

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Feb 18, 2005
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thats funny right there^^^^^^
 

nursie

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We came up on an elk driving through Custer State Park at night once...going slow thank goodness. Those things are mountainous!!
 

Holly9937

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Jan 20, 2005
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I've seen the flashing lights signs for when an animal is supposedly on or near the road. Deers and other large animals can cause major collisions though too, so that makes sense. Then again, if you're like me, and swerve for chipmunks, little animals can cause wrecks also :rolleyes: !!
 

Larissa

Katherine Hope
Jun 9, 2005
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i try to straddle small animals if that's an option but if i'm driving too fast to do anything, I'll just hit it. I hate that but I'm not about to have a wreck over a small animal crossing the road
 
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