BAT CONSERVATION & LIVESTOCK TANKS
Submitted by Brad Phillips 3/2008
Livestock Tanks with Molded
Wildlife Escape Ramps
These are 10’ diameter, heavy duty fiberglass tanks. The escape ramps are molded into the tank itself. It can’t break loose, animals cannot get trapped behind it, and there’s nothing to repair. Price: $735.00 each (w/o shipping). Discounts may be available with larger orders.
Fiberglass Structures, Inc. Laurel, MT
Contact: Jay Story (406) 628-1043
The Wildlife for Water program was initiated by Bat Conservation International (BCI) in response to the need to have functioning, effective wildlife escape ramps in all livestock watering troughs. Years of monitoring wildlife deaths at these stock tanks found that bats also fall victim to tanks without an escape ramp.
BCI recently published Water for Wildlife- A Handbook for Ranchers and
Range Managers (availablbe at BCI’s website: batcon.org).
This handbook gives very useful information about the problem, good reasons
to care (including improved water quality), and it provides easy solutions
and instructions on how to build and properly place escape ramps so they
reduce wildlife deaths and keep the livestock water cleaner.
In a continuing effort to help with this project, biologists contacted
a company that manufactures fiberglass stock tanks. Working with the company
representative a new design was drafted that molded an ‘escape ramp’
right into the tank. The company is Fiberglass Structures, Inc. (Laurel,
MT) and they are to be commended for their pro-active stance on this issue.
While this will not fix the thousands of stock tanks that are currently
out on our public and private rangelands it provides an excellent option
when land managers go to purchase new tanks.
Brad Phillips
Wildlife Biologist
Black Hills National Forest
Hell Canyon District
Report all dead links/images to
Scott.Pedersen@sdstate.edu