Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions
ABSTRACT Wildlife‐vehicle collisions cause numerous human fatalities and injuries, and generate considerable expenses in property damage each year. Certain characteristics of the road and its surroundings are known to have an impact on collision probability. Roadside salt pools increase the risk of...
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crwiley:10.2193/2006-459 2024-06-23T07:45:12+00:00 Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions LEBLOND, MATHIEU DUSSAULT, CHRISTIAN OUELLET, JEAN‐PIERRE POULIN, MARIUS COURTOIS, RÉHAUME FORTIN, JACQUES 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/2006-459 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2193%2F2006-459 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor The Journal of Wildlife Management volume 71, issue 7, page 2304-2310 ISSN 0022-541X 1937-2817 journal-article 2007 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-459 2024-06-13T04:24:15Z ABSTRACT Wildlife‐vehicle collisions cause numerous human fatalities and injuries, and generate considerable expenses in property damage each year. Certain characteristics of the road and its surroundings are known to have an impact on collision probability. Roadside salt pools increase the risk of collision by attracting moose ( Alces alces ) to the side of the road. In the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve of Québec, Canada, roadside salt pools were drained and filled with rocks to deter moose from drinking. We surveyed 12 roadside salt pools during 3 consecutive summers (2003–2005) from mid‐May to mid‐August. Seven salt pools were managed in autumn 2004, and 5 pools were left untreated. We equipped all 12 sites with electronic apparatus that allowed us to detect moose attendance and study their behavior. We also measured physical, chemical, and environmental characteristics of these pools and other unvisited pools in order to correlate moose attendance with specific habitat criteria. We found that moose mostly attended roadside salt pools from mid‐June to mid‐July, with a decrease in August. Moose attendance was significantly correlated with visual obstruction toward the road and water availability. Management of the pools caused a decrease in mean length of time moose spent at them. Number of visits decreased significantly at night (by 90%), which was when most visits occurred, but not during the day. The proposed management practice prevented all visiting moose from drinking brackish water. These results suggest that moose should eventually lose interest in treated salt pools, therefore decreasing the risk of moose‐vehicle collisions on the road. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Wiley Online Library Canada The Journal of Wildlife Management 71 7 2304 2310 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT Wildlife‐vehicle collisions cause numerous human fatalities and injuries, and generate considerable expenses in property damage each year. Certain characteristics of the road and its surroundings are known to have an impact on collision probability. Roadside salt pools increase the risk of collision by attracting moose ( Alces alces ) to the side of the road. In the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve of Québec, Canada, roadside salt pools were drained and filled with rocks to deter moose from drinking. We surveyed 12 roadside salt pools during 3 consecutive summers (2003–2005) from mid‐May to mid‐August. Seven salt pools were managed in autumn 2004, and 5 pools were left untreated. We equipped all 12 sites with electronic apparatus that allowed us to detect moose attendance and study their behavior. We also measured physical, chemical, and environmental characteristics of these pools and other unvisited pools in order to correlate moose attendance with specific habitat criteria. We found that moose mostly attended roadside salt pools from mid‐June to mid‐July, with a decrease in August. Moose attendance was significantly correlated with visual obstruction toward the road and water availability. Management of the pools caused a decrease in mean length of time moose spent at them. Number of visits decreased significantly at night (by 90%), which was when most visits occurred, but not during the day. The proposed management practice prevented all visiting moose from drinking brackish water. These results suggest that moose should eventually lose interest in treated salt pools, therefore decreasing the risk of moose‐vehicle collisions on the road. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
LEBLOND, MATHIEU DUSSAULT, CHRISTIAN OUELLET, JEAN‐PIERRE POULIN, MARIUS COURTOIS, RÉHAUME FORTIN, JACQUES |
spellingShingle |
LEBLOND, MATHIEU DUSSAULT, CHRISTIAN OUELLET, JEAN‐PIERRE POULIN, MARIUS COURTOIS, RÉHAUME FORTIN, JACQUES Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
author_facet |
LEBLOND, MATHIEU DUSSAULT, CHRISTIAN OUELLET, JEAN‐PIERRE POULIN, MARIUS COURTOIS, RÉHAUME FORTIN, JACQUES |
author_sort |
LEBLOND, MATHIEU |
title |
Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
title_short |
Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
title_full |
Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
title_fullStr |
Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Management of Roadside Salt Pools to Reduce Moose‐Vehicle Collisions |
title_sort |
management of roadside salt pools to reduce moose‐vehicle collisions |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2193/2006-459 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2193%2F2006-459 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
The Journal of Wildlife Management volume 71, issue 7, page 2304-2310 ISSN 0022-541X 1937-2817 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2193/2006-459 |
container_title |
The Journal of Wildlife Management |
container_volume |
71 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
2304 |
op_container_end_page |
2310 |
_version_ |
1802638069525905408 |