COLORADO SPRINGS- Many of you reached out. We listened and are looking for solutions to some gruesome accidents happening in Southern Colorado. Wildlife is being injured and killed trying to clear sharp fence posts. Investigative Reporter Patrick Nelson spoke with an eyewitness and wildlife officials who are calling for a change.
“Sunday morning I’m coming down working out doing this and that and there is this deer impaled on these fences that look like harpoons right here. Just hanging there,” said Colorado Springs resident Pat Graves.
Graves saw the deer struggling, watching from the window of a physical therapy office near Centennial and Fillmore in Colorado Springs.
“The deer had tried to jump over the fence and it got its neck stuck and its body slammed down and it went through its side and it laid there flopping not even dying right away. Flopping for I don’t know how long,” said Graves.
She says it’s at least the 8th time this fence has claimed the life of a deer. A sheet was placed over the gruesome sight, it’s something she’ll never forget.
“It was the nastiest thing I had ever seen on a wall or a fence in my entire life,” said Graves.
State wildlife officers say fences like this are popping up all over town and animals are dying trying to clear them because of the sharp spikes.
“Definitely here locally in Colorado Springs on both the east and west side of town you get a lot of animals impaled on those rod iron fences,” said Cody Wigner of Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials say there isn’t much they can do on an enforcement front. They hope people will make these fences safer.
“A simple fix is to either cut those spikes off, or hire someone to weld a metal bar across the top to get rid of those spikes,” said Wigner.
Ultimately it’s up to property owners to make the change or watch more wildlife die on their property. After her experience pat graves says her message is simple.
“Please stop letting these deer suffer by dying on this fence. That’s what my message is. That was a horrible thing to see hun,” said Graves.
State wildlife officials want to be a part of the planning process as property owners across Southern Colorado put fences up. They want to make sure they are not only safe for people, but the wildlife too.
For information on the impact of fencing on Colorado wildlife and to help you plan the fencing on your property please visit:
https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/LandWater/PrivateLandPrograms/FencingWithWildlifeInMind.pdf
