A mother bear and her cubs make a dangerous journey across Interstate 40. Susan Detwiler photo
Growing up in eastern Kentucky, Frances Figart loved any chance to glimpse the diverse wildlife species roaming those Appalachian foothills except when the sightings occurred after the creatures had become roadkill, something that occurred all too frequently. She felt their deaths keenly.
“I can remember when I was a young driver running over a snake once, and I was so upset by that one individual death that I just turned around and went home and didn’t go to my job,” she said. “I called in sick and I just really took it personally.”