I haven’t spent as much time in other states as I have in Wyoming, so my impression may be biased. But I don’t know if there are as many wild animals visible from the highways anywhere else outside of Wyoming.
Granted, most of the critters you’ll see on a drive across the Cowboy State are pronghorns. There are so many of them out there, a lot of us tend to take them for granted. But they’re incredible creatures, and they’re like no other animal on Earth. They’re also actually pretty hard to see in certain situations, so you may drive right past them without noticing them much of the time.
That was almost the case on my trip to Saratoga over the weekend. It was overcast, and there was a lot of snow between the sagebrush, so the speed goats blended right in. I was actively looking for wildlife, though, so I saw them. A lot of them. There seems to be a bumper crop of antelope this year.
I saw more than a few dead on the sides of the road, too. I hate to see that. I’d much rather see them frolicking around safely well away from the pavement. But they do need to cross the roads from time to time. You can help them make it safely across by upgrading your license plates to the new Wildlife Conservation plates. They cost $180 more than normal plates, but $150 goes to a fund to build wildlife crossings that will keep both the wildlife and drivers safe across the state. We’ll need quite a few of those plates to be sold to get the crossings built, so get yours soon.
And keep your eyes open, both for the safety of the animals and yourself, and also because it’s just cool to see all those wild animals wherever you go when you drive across Wyoming.
