Frequently Asked Questions – ZapCreteTM Electrified Wildlife Deterrent Mats

WHY: Wildlife-vehicle collisions cause serious motorist injuries, mortality, and population impacts for wildlife, resulting in millions of dollars in damage and loss each year. In a continuous effort to eliminate deaths and injuries on Montana highways, Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) implements the most cost-effective strategies for increasing motorist safety and reducing property damage while preserving the natural landscape, including wildlife.

Wildlife fencing is very effective for keeping wildlife off roads, however gaps in fences occur for a variety of reasons and allow wildlife to enter the roadways. Wildlife deterrent mats are an effective way to address the gaps and increase safety by reducing the presence of wildlife on the road. The Toston Structures Project is an example of a location where wildlife deterrent mats will be effective in deterring wildlife from entering the highway-side at the ends of the fence, and MDT has installed ZapCrete™ Electrified Wildlife Deterrent Mats as part of this construction project.

Cattleguards and other grated deterrents have been installed on slow speed access roads for the same purpose. Cattleguards and similar deterrent structures work well for keeping livestock safe but are less effective for wildlife species that may attempt to jump (e.g., elk, deer) or walk across (e.g., bears, coyotes) traditional cattleguards. The Electrified Wildlife Deterrent Mats provide a higher level of effectiveness for these types of wildlife, while also allowing for vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, and snowplows to cross safely on roads with higher travel speeds.

WHAT: The ZapCrete™ Electrified Wildlife Deterrent Mats are embedded in the roadway and are designed to deliver an unpleasant, but safe and effective, short duration shock to animals to deter them from entering the roadway side of the fence. The shock is like what wildlife and livestock experience when they contact electrified livestock fences.

As wildlife step onto the deterrent mats, in less than 1 second they receive an unpleasant but safe shock effectively conditioning wildlife to avoid crossing at that place in the road. The delivered shock is a very short pulse of high energy. After each short duration shock, there is a one second “off time” where no shock is present. Since the shock is pulsed, the voltage starts at zero volts then rises to approximately 10K volts and then back to zero in approximately 3/10,000th of 1 second (faster than you can blink your eye). The shock is purposely unpleasant, but not harmful, so that wildlife learns and are conditioned to avoid repeated attempts to cross the road at treatment locations.

Voltage varies depending on environmental conditions such as rain and snow which typically lower the voltage. The Safety Agency Approved Energizer supplying the shock regulates the amount of energy in each pulse and automatically compensates for any losses due to moisture. It is normal to hear some “snapping” sound when moisture is impacting some of the pulse. At night people may even see a bright spot of light being generated corresponding to the snapping sound at each electric conductor. The snapping and flashing effects are normal and may also help deter wildlife from crossing onto the roadway.

The Electrified Wildlife Deterrent Mats use less energy than might be expected. Although each pulse contains energy, the shock is not continuous. The “on time” is approximately 3/10,000th of 1 second followed by no output at all for 1 second. Therefore, the power usage is only 80 Watts, much less than the average streetlight.

ARE THEY SAFE?

Pedestrians can safely cross the deterrent mats wearing well insulated shoes. Most rubber soled shoes, if dry with full tread and no cracks or conductors in the soles, will stop the delivery of the shock. Pedestrians are discouraged from crossing over the deterrent mat, choosing alternative routes that do not involve crossing the high-speed, heavily traveled highway. Pedestrians are strongly encouraged to utilize the US 287 bypass road or new pedestrian underpass. Further, it is not recommended that pedestrians touch the deterrent mat with bare hands or feet.