Wildlife Detection along Highway 160

I looked up the wildlife detecting signs that I mentioned a couple of blogs ago on line and this is what I found. Interesting.

In an effort to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, the Colorado Department of Transportation has installed a wildlife-detection system along a one-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield
The system will detect the presence of large animals near the road and activate 40-inch by 60-inch lighted signs that read "Wildlife Detected."A total of 12 signs - six on each side of the highway - have been installed. When an animal triggers the system, two signs for each direction of travel will light up. The warning lights stay on for about one minute.
To detect large game, a cable that emits an electromagnetic field was buried 1 foot deep, 30 feet from either side of the highway, between mile markers 95.6 to 96.6, just east of the Florida River.
The one-mile stretch is a significant migration corridor for deer moving from summer to winter range. It is also where 70 percent of all reported collisions involve wild animals, according to data collected between 1999 and 2003.
It's not being used anywhere else in the country. Other systems rely on lasers or infrared-motion detectors to activate warning signs, but branches, tumbleweed, small animals and snowplows can all trigger the warning system..
The system installed on Highway 160 uses the same technology that has been used for perimeter security by the military, prisons, airports and some private land owners. Humans can trigger the warning lights if they walk across the underground cable, but the one-mile stretch is not heavily traveled by foot.
There are several driveways along the cable, but the system knows the difference between a car and a deer. It also knows the difference between small animals like squirrels, raccoons and dogs - and signs won't activate for those animals.
Signs will be displayed at the beginning and the end of the test zone to alert drivers of its presence. The pilot project will undergo three to five years of operation, monitoring and supplemental testing and research before results of its validity can be fully realized. If successful, the system could be installed in other problem areas.