Note: My photos, meaning the ones here with “FRPrince” as attribution, were taken from the passenger seat in a moving vehicle, thus I couldn’t get the best angles I could have wished for, in order to show how these structures are built and how they are designed to work. But with a couple of other photos from the internetz and a YouTube video, I think you’ll get the idea easy enough.
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For well over a year now I’ve been making frequent trips from Quincy, CA, where I live, over to Reno, NV, mostly for medical appointments. I don’t drive, so as a front seat passenger I get to allow my gaze to concentrate on the world outside the car; I’m always on the lookout for things going on with nature and wildlife. And sometimes things that we ho-saps are doing. And especially when we ho-saps are doing something that is beneficial to wildlife and concurrently beneficial to ourselves, … will wonders never cease?
So, I’ve been watching a large fence construction project in progress. One part of it I sure couldn’t fathom until just yesterday. I could see the fencing itself easy enough; it was small mesh and tall, which meant to me obviously it was intended as a barrier to large wildlife animals, like deer or Pronghorn. But there were some large gaps (as of several months ago) with just these big “I-beam” pillars in them, and heavy duty corrugated metal panels spanning between the beams. In the two photos below, just imagine the ramp of dirt not being there; you might understand my puzzlement.
Here’s one that had a construction crew on site. The work on these jumpouts is not quite finished.
I looked for but could not find a specific news article on this particular wildlife protection fencing project, but I do know that many years ago underpasses to allow animals to cross this stretch of divided highway were built. It’s nice to see that additional wildlife protection elements are an ongoing project.
Here’s a couple of photos from other sources of slightly different wildlife jumpout/escape ramp construction methods:
These jumpout/escape ramps I gotta call a win-win for wild animals and ho-saps together. Oh and hey, check out this super-wild deer; massive antlers:
Now It's Your Turn.
What have you noted happening in your area or travels? As usual post your observations as well as their general location in the comments.
Thank you.