• In the Lot, members of the LPO have identified areas of high mortality of squirrels, victims of collisions with cars when crossing the roads.

  • To avoid these fatal collisions, two “eco-pipelines”, aerial bridges, are installed on the departmental roads where there have been the most incidents.

  • This system, deployed by the Cohab 'association, makes it possible to recreate ecological corridors.

They like to wander from tree to tree, but are sometimes forced to cross roads, which can sometimes be fatal.

As with toads or hedgehogs, it often happens to come across squirrels on the roadside.

More frequent collisions near the woods where they like to frolic.

To preserve these small rodents, the Lot Bird Protection League (LPO), which works on wildlife, has decided to install “eco-pipelines” on two roads in the department.

Like the toads, which allow amphibians to reach their breeding area via a buzzard, aerial installations will be created this week in the municipalities of Cajarc and Saint-Géry-Vers intended for red squirrels but also for the genet.

“Red squirrels need a lot of movement. As they grow up, the young are expelled from the territory by their parents and must explore other sites. However, their habitat is fragmented by the presence of roads, open environments where they are uncovered, hence the interest in installing these devices, a kind of elastic rope stretched between two trees which will recreate a passage ”, explains Stéphanie Plaga-Lemanski, in charge of this project for the LPO.

This aerial path, installed more than 6.50 meters above the ground, is suitable for the circulation of vehicles passing below.

It has already proven its worth in Nancy in an urban environment but also in Hérault, where they were installed by the Cohab 'association a few years ago.

It is she who will be in charge of setting up the Lot “eco-pipelines”, after having installed them on a Tuesday in the Aude.

A thread like those used for bungee jumping

The founders of this organization decided to specialize in this type of device after creating a wildlife care center.

"We realized that this problem was more and more recurrent, that we encroached more and more on the wilderness of animals", explains one of them, Maëlle Kermabon who trained in climbing. trees.

After testing a first weighted rope, they developed a 33 mm diameter wire system, like those used for bungee jumping, more secure for squirrels, motorists but also trees on which it is attached that are not constrained when it is windy. This passage, resistant to UV and bad weather, is equipped with feeders, to encourage squirrels to use it. "We also coat the pipeline with walnut oil, which smells very strongly, which attracts them and allows to recreate an ecological continuity", continues the co-founder of Cohab 'who also installs cameras which are triggered at each passage. .

Instruments which also make it possible to retrieve data on the way in which the system operates, on its efficiency and its positioning.

Before each installation, an inventory of collisions on the ground is carried out.

But if the area is too open, or the road too busy, it can scare the squirrels.

Hence the interest in ensuring the monitoring of this equipment which contributes to maintaining biodiversity.

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  • LPO

  • Animal protection

  • Forest

  • Toulouse

  • Wildlife

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