Upgrade on plastic grill mesh insert?

[kvc]

In the past few months, I've managed to get two large holes in one of my upper mesh grills, both from Marri tree gum nuts. The culprit 'gum nuts' are about golf-ball in size and about as solid. Parrots sit in these trees, that overhang the highways in my region. After they peck the inside of the nut for the seeds, they simply drop them. If you happen to be driving past as this occurs, you can end up with a nice bullet shaped star in your windscreen, dent in the bodywork or in my case, several holes in the plastic mesh grill. If you are following another vehicle as they drive through the carpet of gumnuts, they tend to get flicked up too, resulting in large bangs and dents or worse.
Not only has this put a couple of holes in my grill, but also nice dents to the radiator core. Thankfully, no leaks.
Wondering if anyone has attempted to replace the plastic mesh grill inserts with something a little more robust, like steel or aluminium (with a 'how to' thread) or has come across a seller that offers something like this?