CANADIAN ELK MATTERS
But their own bridge?

This photo came to us through the e-mailing medium which brings us everything from soup to nuts and elk propaganda, too.

The Caption: This is the actual turnoff from Banff to the # 1 highway to Calgary. Great picture isn't it? They had to build the animals (especially the elk) their own crossing because that was where the natural crossing was and after the highway was built there were far too many accidents. I understand it didn 't take the animals long to learn that this was their "road ."

We forwarded this to a number of recipients who we deemed worthy to suffer the latest e-mail trivia. One offered this reaction: I thought it was odd that there was no visible fence on the right side to funnel the elk onto this bridge structure, so I looked it up to see if it was a photo-shopped image. It appears that it is a true image, but that the structure is not a planned wildlife overpass. It is reported to be a bridge for the Canadian Pacific railroad track. This makes sense since the structure is so stout, and would be total overkill for just wildlife.

Our offering: Maybe overkill is the norm in Canada or it 's just that Canucks feel strongly about accommodating their wildlife. If it's a RR bridge, why the pedestrian railing on both sides? Also, if designed for elk, you might expect a more formidable, higher, chain link affair instead. If there is a "funneling" fence, how could you spy it in this photo? Since these critters move instinctively, as a deer darts across a high-traffic road in front of YOUR car in order to get where it needs to get, they made the bridge, theirs.

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