This is a reminder to protect wildlife by slowing down and respecting the speed limit. A juvenile male Great Gray Owl was hit and killed by a vehicle on Oct. 23rd. This is the third Great Gray Owl killed by a vehicle in the past 14 months. The owl was struck in an area with a 25 MPH speed limit that was designed to slow traffic down for wildlife in that area. These majestic predatory birds are active mainly at night, so driving the speed limit is important for all hours of the day. These owls are extremely rare; there are as few as 100-200 breeding pairs in the Sierra Nevada. Despite hundreds of hours spent surveying this summer, only one other juvenile was detected, making this kill even more tragic. Vehicle caused deaths can be avoided if we all do our part to slow down.