Cattle grid
A row of bars across a road over a shallow pit, which vehicles can cross but cattle will not.
Also: cattle guard, stock grid, Texas gate
A cattle grid lets traffic pass through a fence line without a gate. Metal bars or rails are laid across the road over a shallow pit with gaps between them; vehicles roll over easily, but cattle, sheep and horses avoid stepping on them because their hooves would slip between the bars. Cattle grids are found on unfenced hill and moor roads in Britain, on outback roads in Australia, where they are often just called grids, and on ranches in North America, where they are cattle guards. Some animals learn to cross them, and painted stripes on the road are sometimes used as a cheaper visual trick.