Some wildlife fencing solutions are friendlier than others, says a biologist with the Alberta Conservation Association.
However, more study is needed to evaluate the use of modified fencing for pronghorns, said Paul Jones told the Prairie Conservation and Endangered Species Conference, held in Saskatoon Feb. 16-18.
Research is studying how different fencing designs and techniques affect pronghorns, but it is also looking for best fencing practices for cattle.
“I want to create the win-win situation where we can put up an enhancement or modification that we know will actually work for pronghorn and is still going to keep the cattle in the field they’re supposed to be in so that we can keep antelope moving across this landscape,” he said.
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Pronghorn are a free roaming species capable of large migrations, particularly during severe winters, when they will range be-tween Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana.
Jones said the animals must be able to move and typically choose to crawl under the bottom fence wire as opposed to jumping over the top.
“So if your bottom wire on the fence is low, your fence is now impermeable for pronghorns to cross,” he said.
“We’ve got records of animals moving parallel to a fence, going back and forth trying to find somewhere to cross. What I’m really keying in on is these animals have the special memory of where their known crossing sites are.”
Jones is using high end cameras that are capable of colour video and night time sensors to review four fence modifications: goat bar, staple lock method, bottom smooth wire and open gate.
The goat bar uses a long length of white PVC tubing, which holds the bottom wire up with the second wire and increases the distance between the ground and wire.
The staple lock method uses two-inch metal staples to clip the bottom wire and top wire to the middle wires. The bottom smooth wire is strung between fence posts and the open gate removes all wires.
The preliminary study is still underway, but Jones thinks the smooth wire at 45 centimetres is the best solution for pronghorn and cattle because pronghorns do not logically cross at raised wires and still become entangled in barbed wire at their known crossing sites.
As well, the bottom smooth wire allows calves that get out of a fenced pasture to find a way back in.
“If you do the whole fence and the calf gets out at 18 inches (45 cm), he’s got a whole fence now to get back under. Right now what you see when a calf gets out is it has no idea where it got out and can’t find the same spot,” he said.
“That’s where you see the calf running back and forth and the mom running back and forth.”
