There truly is an app for everything, including roadkill in Wyoming.
In this photo provided by Jaden Bales, the outline of a mule deer that was struck by a car and claimed for food using a new state of Wyoming roadkill app is seen in grass and snow near U.S. 287 south of Lander on Feb. 21, 2022.
State wildlife and highway officials rolled out the app — possibly the first of its kind in the U.S. — this winter when Wyoming joined the 30 or so states that allow people to collect roadkill for food. Next thing Casey knew, Bales had hauled the doe home in his pickup truck and Casey was helping cut it up so they could hang the quarters in Bales’ garage.
The Wyoming app helps to collect data. By geotagging roadkill with their phones and documenting the species, app users will contribute to the data that help Wyoming wildlife biologists and highway officials decide where to install wildlife crossing signs and other ways of reducing critter deaths. Wyoming is home to about 400,000 mule deer, or roughly two for every three of the state's human residents. Although they're not rare and are still enthusiastically hunted, drought and diminishing habitat have played roles in reducing Wyoming mule numbers by almost 30% in the past 30 years.