'Shoelace' grid ties up wild dogs

The so-called ‘shoelace grid’ gets its name from its appearance – electric tape 10 centimetres above the ground and criss-crossed in front of a conventional steel grid – and is powered by a small solar unit.

Between them, Bruce and Lisa Alexander, Warringah and Ranald and Rachel Noble, Tarbarah have fenced in 50,000 acres to protect their stock and land from wild dogs and environmental harm.

“We weren’t going to spend all that money and have the grids unsecured,” Rachel said. “I had been googling ideas and found there are a lot of things out there, but they were very expensive.”

Bruce said it was a comment from a friend who had visited Fraser Island and seen the resort complex surrounded by a fence and a similar electric tape concept in operation that got him experimenting at home.

“I wanted to make sure you could safely drive over it in a vehicle, and I put it on the outside of the grid so that animals on the inside don’t hit the tape until they’re on the way out.

The shock seems to spur them onwards in the same direction.

“I put video surveillance on it for about six weeks and I can definitely say it works – I didn’t see anything come in but it’s certainly letting animals out.”

Bruce said the way the tape shimmers in the moonlight is also a deterrent for wildlife at night.

“There’s a real groove on the road from all the animals patrolling around it now,” he said.

“It was cheap and quick to bang up but is working well – I’m definitely leaving it there.”

The Nobles have also installed an orange light and beeper on their grid which is set off by a sensor, made to specifications by Roma Communications as an extra deterrent.

Rachel estimated the whole tape and light setup had cost $1200-$1500 to buy and install.

She said the exclusion fence took commitment to maintain and was checked weekly, especially the flood nettings and channel crossings, but it was time they were happy to give.

“We love what we’re doing – breeding Dorper cross lambs – we got 140 per cent of lambs last year and it’s far more profitable than anything else we could be doing with our land,” she said.

“We estimate our fence cost $4/acre to build, which we see as a good investment.”

Ranald added that they had turned to fencing as they had lost confidence in 1080 as a wild dog control method.

“They aren’t score one scrawny dingoes anymore, they’re score two or three killing machines.

“That’s why they’re ignoring 1080 – they’ve hybridised and gotten smarter.”