3 Ways To Be The Best Montanan You Can Be

Montana has numerous nicknames. The Last Best Place, Big Sky Country, God's Country, you get the picture. Montana is also known for its vast countryside full of wildlife including bears, dear, elk, and moose, and its beautiful mountains that some of us like to hike.

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Now, you may come across injured or abandoned wildlife while hiking the trails, hills, and mountains of Montana. This could be anything from a fawn to an injured bird, and it may be our instinct to try and help the animal. That is the opposite of what you should do.

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The problem with handling wildlife is many herds will not take back an animal that has been touched by a human. Apparently, they don't like the scent we leave, and to be fair, I don't always like the scent of humans either.

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Another underlying issue with handling wildlife, is the potential to spread diseases, not just from one animal to another, but you could also inherit a disease from the animal that is infectious to humans and our household pets.

What should you do if you come across baby wildlife?

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, there are three easy things to remember when or if you come across baby wildlife.

Leave the baby animal where you found it.  It’s not uncommon for deer and elk to leave their young alone for extended periods of time. In most cases, the mother will come back to the location when they are ready for the little one to tag along again.
Keep your dogs in control. Keep little Fido under control. This is especially important in the spring when newborn wildlife is most vulnerable. As a pet owner, you can be fined and dogs that harass or kill wildlife may by law have to be euthanized.
You are breaking the law. It is illegal to possess and care for a live animal taken from the wild outdoors. This includes but is not limited to baby bison, squirrels, rabbits, fawns, etc. Basically, if it is born in the wild, it needs to stay in the wild.

FWP’s priority is to do whatever it takes to keep wild animals wild and that should be all of our priorities as well. FWP doesn't take in, hold or rehabilitate moose, deer, elk, and most other animals, so the best thing for you to do, is leave that animal exactly where it is.

CC: Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks

9 Ways To Avoid Hitting A Deer In Montana

State Farm Insurance came out with a list of states with the worst odds of hitting an animal, and Montana came in 2nd. There is a 1 in 44 chance, you will hit an animal while living and driving in Montana. The most common months for this to happen are October, November, and December. If you are traveling through the surrounding states, your odds of hitting a deer don't really get any better. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho are all considered "high risk" or "medium risk" for the odds of hitting an animal.

Here are State Farm Insurance's 9 ways to help avoid hitting a deer.

20 License Plates Banned In Montana

This is just a small glimpse at banned license plates in the state of Montana. There are well over 4000 that could be added to this list.

Now why some of these are banned is beyond me. I don't find any of them offensive, that's for sure; the state of Montana has the right to refuse:

"any combination of letters or numbers, or both, that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency or which are misleading or a duplication of license plates provided elsewhere."- Montana Motor Vehicle Department

What plates are banned in your state? Hopefully, they are not as picky as Montana.

3 Important Tips To Conserve Water In Montana

Spring and summer will be here before you know it, and many Bozemanites will start to work on their lawns, trees, shrubbery, flower, and vegetable gardens.

Of course, while there is a great amount of pride that people take when they put in long hours to enhance and improve their home's landscaping, there are some important things that you should know when it comes to not only helping conserve water in our area but also to make sure that you are in accordance with city guidelines.

The City of Bozeman has lots of information on its website that will not only make sure you're up to date when it comes to city regulations but there are some great tips that can help you make sure that you're doing your part to make sure there is enough water for everyone.

Source: 3 Ways To Be The Best Montanan You Can Be