BUTTE – The Montana Highway Patrol says at least eight bighorn sheep died when a motorist drove his pickup truck through a herd on a state highway.
The patrol says the collision occurred late Monday morning on Montana 1 about 7 miles west of Anaconda.
Trooper Tom Gill tells The Montana Standard that the driver, identified only as being from Anaconda, wasn’t injured and his truck incurred light damage. But the patrol says the driver was cited with a misdemeanor failure to obey a traffic signal.
Gill says the driver claimed he didn’t see the sheep. But Gill says two, large signs on the sides of the road warn motorists about sheep on the road.
Gill says wildlife managers suspect some injured sheep may later die.