PREDATOR PROOF FENCE

Game Changer

Out of more than 120 wildlife and hunting restoration projects I’ve  worked I learned quickly predators are the number one problem. There’s not a close second. Low nest survival rates were caused by predators.  Low chick survival rates caused by predators. Early release systems project failures caused by predators. 

Another lesson you quickly learn regarding restoration work is if you build it or improve it they will come. And I am not talking about quail. I am talking about predators. Anything you do to improve or enhance a piece of property to make it more usable for quail. It just makes it more attractive to predators. And they will show up and eat, kill and harass your quail. 

And trying to trap or shoot your predators is not only expensive and time-consuming,  it just doesn't work. As you remove one predator it’s replaced by another. That's their job that's how they survive. They go to where the food is available. They eat and reproduce.  And if they eat themselves out of house and home they will either die of a disease because of their weakened state or they'll move on. And as soon as the food is replenished they move back in and do it all over again. It's impossible to get ahead. 

That's why the predator proof fence is a game changer. For properties that have predator issues the only way to get control of it,  is to prevent them from encroaching into the area. It took a couple of years to get the fence design right.  From the materials use to construction of the fence it self. And the things you don't think about at the beginning such as managing water gaps. But once I got it right our nest survive rate went from 0 to 85%. Not bad for an area covered with fire ants. Like I said a game changer.  Another benefit was the fact that our deer population began to grow. The mamas that gave birth to their babies inside the management area had a very high survival rate. Each year the mom and their babies would come back and give birth inside the management area with the same high survival rate. This created a nursery effect for our deer population on the ranch. And last but not least the turkey population benefited tremendously from the high survival rate of their nest inside the management area. Do I dare say it a again, a game changer.