Road ecology blog: wildlife guard and escape ramp for small animals, National Park Hoge Veluwe, The Netherlands.

The fence and wildlife guard keep wild boar (Sus scrofa) and moeflon (Ovis orientalis) on one side of the fence. The wildlife guard is installed at a bicycle path and allows cyclists to proceed without stopping. It is rare to find a wildlife guard in The Netherlands that does not have an escape opportunity for small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. In this case there is a simple metal ramp that allows the animals to crawl out of the pit under the metal grate. These types of escape opportunities are uncommon in North America though. Some wildlife guards have an opening on the side, so an escape opportunity already exists. Other wildlife guards do not allow small animals to escape from the pit under the metal bars or grate... the pit becomes a pitfall. In most cases ramps such as shown below can easily be installed at existing wildlife or cattle guards.... we just have to recognize the problem and then implement this relatively simple solution...

Click here for other images of wildlife guards, cattle guards, electric mats or gates.

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Bicyclist on wildlife guard for wild boar (Sus scrofa and moeflon (Ovis orientalis), National Park Hoge Veluwe, The NetherlandsBicyclist on wildlife guard for wild boar (Sus scrofa and moeflon (Ovis orientalis), National Park Hoge Veluwe, The Netherlands. This wildlife guard has an escape ramp for small animals that fall into the pit under the metal grate.

Escape ramp for small animals from pit under wildlife guard, National Park Hoge Veluwe, The NetherlandsEscape ramp for small animals from pit under wildlife guard, National Park Hoge Veluwe, The Netherlands. This escape ramp allows small animals that fall into the pit under the metal grate to escape.