Eating roadkill could become a legal reality

A bill allowing certain kinds of roadkill to be used as food is awaiting the governor's signature in Montana.

HB 247 won't give citizens the right to try and run over animals for food.  Instead, the animal has to be accidentally killed in order for it to become a meal.

"There are a lot of animals and a lot of roadway in Montana," state Rep. Steve Lavin says. "I've had a ton of people ask me after striking a deer or an elk, 'Can I take it?' And I have to say no.'"

Vehicles colliding with animals has become a problem in the state.  In 2011, the Montana Department of Transportation says there were more than 1,900 collisions between wild animals and vehicles.

The white-tailed deer was hit the most in 2011.  Bighorn sheep, mountain lions and black bears are also on the list of animals commonly hit by vehicles.

A pair of other states have already passed similar legislation.

In West Virginia, you can kill animals you kill with your vehicle as long as you report what happened within 12 hours.

Illinois residents can keep deer hit by vehicles as long as they don't have suspended wildlife privileges, aren't behind on child support payments and they report the collision.