Cattle Grid - Limitations

Limitations

While these barriers are usually effective, they can fail due to ingenious animals. Sheep have been known to jump or run along the side of grids as wide as 8 feet (2.4 m), traversing them to find more and better food or water. Wider grids are used where deer are to be contained. Some animals, particularly wildlife, can jump across them, and animals with particularly large feet, such as American bison or even particularly large bovine bulls, can walk across them without slipping between the bars. Sometimes, they may be connected to an electric fence to prevent predatory animals, such as dingoes and foxes walking over them. In areas with heavy snowfall and long periods without a thaw, snow can accumulate beneath a grid and allow animals to walk across. Portable "Texas gates" suspend the gate by springs so that it lowers to the ground when a vehicle passes over then returns to a position 6 inches (15 cm) above the ground to avoid the snowfall problem.