Signs up to warn of deer near logging operation

A few dead deer on the side of any road in Montana are no uncommon sight, but when Zena Pirone started seeing them dead in bunches on Highway 35 and South Ferndale Road, she knew she had to do something.

“I think it’s unnecessary slaughter,” said Pirone, who is the caretaker at the Loon Lake campground.  “Some of those deer die long, slow deaths.”

The abnormally high number of deer appear to be a result of a logging operation going on near the intersection. The deer come in high numbers to eat the moss on the upper reaches of the felled trees.

Pirone called the Montana Department of Transportation, hoping that signs to warn of such a situation could be installed. And while there are no logging-operation specific deer crossing signs, James Freyholtz with the DOT in Kalispell said that standard “Deer Crossing” signs were going to be installed.

“We want to make sure any signs we put out are useful and safe,” Freyholtz said. “It’s possible to look at situations like this on a case by case basis.”

Not surprisingly, Freyholtz said his office received regular calls from citizens requesting deer crossing signs all over the area.

“Something like this — in a highly confined area — made sense,” he said.

But in a valley littered with deer crossing signs — and more than a few dead deer — there’s still a lot of responsibility left to drivers as far as Pirone’s concerned.

“We have to be aware,” she said. “Please, please, please be careful.”