Lizard Fencing

Controlling lizard movement

Lizard species are potentially at risk of becoming trapped in foundation trenches, pipework, or machinery on poorly fenced construction sites. Additionally, researchers in the United States have ranked 18% of lizard species at high or very high risk of becoming road-kill on highways. Lizards are susceptible to crushing by road traffic or earth-moving equipment because they are slow moving, do not avoid roads, and are simply too small for drivers to see and avoid. Since paved roads and surfaced areas on development sites typically absorb and retain more heat than the surrounding environment, lizards – like other reptiles – are often attracted to them for thermo-regulation, making their occurrence on these surfaces more frequent than their population would suggest.

It is the responsibility of planning engineers to reduce the ecological impact construction sites and roads have, and to use mitigation measures as tools in ecological conservation. Fencing, along with other mitigation measures, such as tunnels, has been shown to reduce construction site deaths and road-kill without disrupting the animals’ life cycle, but it has to be the right kind of fencing or lizards will find a way through it or climb over it.

Fencing can also be used to aid population assessment before the development of new construction sites.