Entanglement
Entanglement
Nearly all mixed constructional materials such as silt fence, mesh, shade and hardware cloth pose a high risk of entanglement to wildlife.
These products are comprised of multiple strands of material that can act as nets, inadvertently catching and entrapping sensitive wildlife rather than protecting it. Snakes are at the highest risk of entanglement as material strands often become lodged under scales making it impossible for them to move back and forth safely, and resulting in them becoming stuck and slowly perishing.
Carpet python passing through chain-link in Queensland, Australia.
The risk factor for different materials can vary over time. For example, the gaps and holes in mesh and hardware cloth pose an immediate risk whereas, shade cloth and silt fencing will pose an increased risk over time as the materials break down. In addition, many of the cheaper materials used for temporary applications are rarely recovered after a project and are left to pollute the landscape causing further unknown and avoidable damage. The weather resistance of some metal mesh fencing (hardware cloths) is also difficult to predict, as origins of manufacture can be hard to confirm.
As previously mentioned in the pacing section, we don’t truly understand if reptiles and amphibians can see or sense materials with a high transparency such as mesh or silt fencing. This may be the reason why they have been observed to exert a great amount of effort touching such materials in comparison to solid materials with a higher opacity.