Animal guard

Abstract

An animal guard with a multitude of rotatable elements that can be securely mounted on a generally vertical or horizontal structure is disclosed. The rotatable elements may be of varying shapes and are designed to provide an unsteady footing for animals attempting to cross the object to continue travel along the structure. In accordance with one embodiment, the animal guard is configured to surround a vertically-extending structure. A series of hollow rotatable elements, or “spinners”, are provided with a hole formed at opposing longitudinal ends. The spinners are bifurcated into two generally equal halves that attach together. A guard plate is mounted to surround the structure and has a series of cross arm brackets which extend through the end holes of the spinners to serve as end axles for rotation and to position the spinners around the circumference of the structure. A support means secures the location of the guard plate and spinners and couples the guard plate to the structure. Another embodiment of the animal guard inhibits animal passage along generally horizontal structures, such as cables, lines and wires. This embodiment could also be installed on vertical or diagonal structures, such as guy wires and the like. A series of hollow rotatable spinners are provided with a hole formed at opposing longitudinal ends. The spinners are bifurcated into two generally equal halves that attach together to secure the spinners around a horizontal structure. End shields are configured with a hole extending laterally therethrough to mount the end shields onto an end section of the spinners; one end shield is positioned at each of the opposite ends of a series of spinners. A gripping means is positioned adjacent to the end shields at the opposite end of the series of spinners to grip the horizontal structure and hold the end shields and spinners at fixed positions horizontally along the line.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An animal guard configured to extends around the perimeter of a vertically-extending structure, comprising: 
 a guard having a body section and a series of axle arms spaced radially outward therefrom and forming a series of axle axes, the guard configured to extend circumferentially around the vertically-extending structure;    a series of rotatable elements, each element configured to accept opposing axle arms at opposite sides thereof for rotation about the axle axes; and    support means for mounting the guard to the vertically-extending structure.    
     
     
         2 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein each rotatable element comprises two mating shell sections each having connectors disposed along a shell wall for coupling the sections together to form a rotatable element, and having a trough at opposing ends of each shell section to form a hole with a mating shell for extending around the axle arms for rotation thereabout.  
     
     
         3 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , further comprising cross arm brackets extending radially outward from the body section, each cross arm bracket having two generally opposing axle arms extending laterally therefrom to space the rotatable elements generally adjacent to and radially outward from the body section of the guard.  
     
     
         4 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein the body section of the guard has a plurality of holes sized and configured to allow conduits to be extending through the guard generally parallel to the vertically-extending structure  
     
     
         5 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein at least the body section of the guard is made of acetyl.  
     
     
         6 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein the support means comprises a plurality of spikes configured to extend radially from the vertically-extending structure such that the guard may rest thereon.  
     
     
         7 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable elements are red in color to deter animals from crossing the guard.  
     
     
         8 . The animal guard of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable elements are made of a UV resistant plastic and impregnated with at least one of coyote urine and fox urine scent to deter animals from crossing the guard.  
     
     
         9 . An animal guard configured to extends around the perimeter of a vertically-extending structure, comprising: 
 a plurality of rotatable elements each having a bore;    an axle extending through the bores of the plurality of rotatable elements to form an axis about which the plurality of rotatable elements may rotate, the axle forming a ring substantially circumscribing the vertically-extending structure; and    support means to secure the axle to the structure;    wherein the axle axis is aligned generally orthogonal to the vertical axis of the structure.    
     
     
         10 . The animal guard of  claim 9 , wherein the support means comprises a plurality of legs extending downwardly from the axle, each leg having a spike to contact the vertically-extending structure and maintain the position of the leg.  
     
     
         11 . The animal guard of  claim 9 , wherein the axle ring is circular in shape.  
     
     
         12 . The animal guard of  claim 9 , wherein the axle ring is polygonal in shape.  
     
     
         13 . The animal guard of  claim 9 , wherein the axle comprises first and second rod sections pivotably attached together at a hinge, the first rod section having a hook at an end opposite the hinge and the second rod section having a receiver at an end opposite the hinge for receiving the hook to form the axle into a closed ring.  
     
     
         14 . The animal guard of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 a support strap configured to substantially circumscribe the vertically-extending structure and having a series of radially inwardly-extending spikes to contact the structure and maintain the position of the strap proximal to the plurality of rotatable elements; and    a fill plate configured to rest upon the support strap and inhibit the ability of an animal to bypass the plurality of rotatable elements as the animal is moving upward along the vertically-extending structure.    
     
     
         15 . An element configured to rotate about an axis, comprising a pair of mating shell sections each having connectors disposed along a shell wall for coupling the sections together to form a rotatable element, and each section having troughs formed into the shell walls at opposing ends to define a hole with a mating shell for extending around a horizontally-extending structure for rotation thereabout.  
     
     
         16 . The element of  claim 15 , wherein the shell sections have a center cylindrical portion and a pair of conical end portions disposed on opposite longitudinal sides of the center cylindrical portion, and at least one concentric groove formed into the shell wall of each of the conical end portions to designate a location for severing a portion of the conical end portions to enlarge the holes for accepting the horizontally-extending structure through the rotatable element.  
     
     
         17 . An animal guard configured to extend around the perimeter of a horizontally-extending structure, comprising: 
 a series of rotatable elements configured to accept a horizontally-extending structure therethrough for rotation about the structure; and    a pair of end barriers each having a center ring sized and configured for insertion over one of the rotatable elements for mounting thereon; and    a gripping means configured for mounting on the horizontally-extending structure to prevent the rotatable elements from separating longitudinally along the structure;    whereby one end barrier is mounted on each of the opposite horizontal ends of the series of rotatable elements and the gripping means is mounted adjacent to each of the end barriers.    
     
     
         18 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein at least two of the elements have a center region and an end region with a transverse cross-sectional dimension less than that of the center region, the end region configured to accept the end barrier for mounting thereon.  
     
     
         19 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein each rotatable element comprises two mating shell sections each having connectors disposed along a shell wall for coupling the sections together to form a rotatable element, and having a trough at opposing ends of each shell section to form a hole with a mating shell for extending around the horizontally-extending structure for rotation thereabout.  
     
     
         20 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein the end barriers further have a plurality of radially extending spokes extending from the center ring and at least one outer ring interconnecting the spokes with a radially extending slot extending from the center ring to an outer perimeter of the end barrier to allow for expansion of the center ring upon the application of a lateral or tangential force such that the center ring can be extended over a portion of the rotatable element having a larger diameter than the unexpanded center ring for mounting thereon.  
     
     
         21 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein the rotatable elements are red in color to deter animals from crossing the guard.  
     
     
         22 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein the rotatable elements are made of a UV resistant plastic and impregnated with at least one of coyote and fox urine scent to deter animals from crossing the guard.  
     
     
         23 . The animal guard of  claim 17 , wherein the horizontally-extending structure is an electrical transmission line, and wherein the rotatable elements further have fins and electromagnets disposed thereon, whereby the fins facilitate the spinning of the rotatable elements around the transmission line upon receiving a wind load to allow the electromagnets to work with the line carrying electrical current to generate a magnetic field to reduce loss along the line.