The mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) wears its name on its head: oversized, mule-like ears that swivel toward the faintest sound. Few animals are more closely tied to Central Oregon. You’ll see them browsing suburban yards in Bend, crossing a trail at dusk, or bounding off across the sage in the stiff-legged, all-four-feet-at-once gait called stotting, tail tipped in black.

Their year is a migration. The Deschutes herd winters low, among the juniper and bitterbrush near the river, then climbs each spring to summer range around Wickiup Reservoir and Mount Bachelor. After two decades of decline, many of those routes now cross busy roads. The stretch of Highway 20 between Bend and Suttle Lake sees more deer and elk hit by vehicles than anywhere else in Oregon, and a broad coalition of agencies, tribes, and conservation groups is planning wildlife overcrossings to address it. Slow down at dusk on the highway, and you’re already helping.