Navigating The Dangers Of Wildlife On Our Connecticut Highways

It may be the temporary detour that I've had to use along 202 between Torrington and Brookfield but I've noticed that 2025 may be a record year for the amount of roadkill we have in Connecticut.

Over the past few days I've driven past (Not into or over) 3 dead racoons, 2 dead opossums, and 1 rather large dead dear through Morris into Washington Depot. Every morning I see at least 10-15 live animals along the side of the road as I make my way in at 4AM. Today I had to swerve out of the way as I got into New Milford to avoid a fox dashing across Rt. 7.

What Should You Do if You Strike an Animal in Connecticut?

I've encountered many an animal strike in my 40+ years of driving, the worst was a deer strike on the Sherwood Island connector back in the early 2000's. I was driving a work truck and nailed a deer doing almost 40MPH. The impact killed the poor dear, and nearly totaled the vehicle. As bad as that incident shook me, I've never come close to the biggest threat - literally - to Connecticut motorists - moose. We've had a few instances of moose vs car accidents, most recently in North Haven and Hartland in 2023.

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The worst feeling in the world though is colliding with someone's house pet. That's another thing that I've seen happen in the past that I would rather forget. If you do strike an aminal here in Connecticut there are resources available to you. First contact the municipality you are in, and see if they have an animal control officer that can come assist you. If not, the Connecticut DOT has an online form you can fill out for assistance, you can find that HERE.