The Park City Police Department early in the week and last week continued to receive reports involving wildlife, as the snowpack at the higher elevations remains deep enough that the animals are moving to lower elevations in search of foraging grounds.
The animals are more likely to be seen once they are at the lower elevations, and collisions between drivers and wildlife become a larger risk since most miles of road are at the lower elevations of Park City.
The recent cases involved sightings and collisions. They included:
• on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:15 a.m., elk were seen along S.R. 224.
• on Friday, Jan. 27 at 6:29 a.m., an unspecified number of elk were seen crossing S.R. 224. The police said there were approximately six bull elk that had not crossed the state highway by the time of the report.
• on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 9:23 p.m., a driver reportedly hit a deer in the area of Park Avenue and Saddle View Way. The deer was apparently on the roadside afterward, but public police logs did not provide details about the condition of the deer, the driver or the vehicle.
• on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 10:59 a.m., the police reported a deer needed to be destroyed on Silver Cloud Drive. Public police logs did not provide details, but many cases involving injured wildlife that need to be destroyed in Park City are the result of a collision with a driver.
• on Monday, Jan. 23 at 7:47 p.m., four elk were seen on the side of S.R. 224. The police were told it appeared the animals may attempt to cross the state highway.
• on Jan. 23 at 7:03 p.m., a driver hit a deer at or close to one of the intersections of Kearns Boulevard and Cooke Drive. Public police logs did not provide details about the animal.