Wild Dog & Roo Exclusion Fence

The Problem

Arthur and Glenda Gaunt run 800 head of EU accredited Santa Gertrudis and Black Angus cattle and 4000 sheep at their property located between St George and Bollon. Their neighbours have had an increase in wild dog activity on their property, although the Gaunt’s have not been significantly affected by wild dogs yet they believe it is only a matter of time.

“A dog trapper was keeping in contact with us and letting us know when he got a dog nearby. The number of dogs is definitely increasing each year”, Mr Gaunt said.

The Gaunt’s have been persevering with increasing pressures from grazing kangaroos and the ongoing drought.

Mr Gaunt said “We needed to replace our front boundary fence and decided instead of constructing a seven-wire fence, to replace it with this new predator fence”.

The Solution

The Gaunt’s completed a 9km exclusion fence along their boundary near the Balonne Highway. The Waratah fence stands 1.75m tall and features 5 metre spacings between each post. The wire used was 15/150/15 Stocksafe-T^® Longlife^®, the wire has been specifically designed to prevent animals from penetrating the fence, it is ideal for containing livestock as well as excluding vermin such as wild dogs and kangaroos.

To directly target wild dogs, a 300mm apron was added to the bottom of the fence, this prevents feral animals from burrowing under the fence. To target kangaroos, a 1.8mm Longlife^® high tensile barbed wire was added to the top of the fence.

 “People ask us what we’re trying to keep in with a fence like this, but it’s all about keeping things out. The main purpose is to keep wild dogs out but also make total grazing pressure a bit lighter”, Mr Gaunt said.