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Report says three-wire fence best for game
12/16/02
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Three-wire electric fence is best for keeping livestock contained while still allowing big game to pass, a new study says.
The state Game and Fish Department study evaluated high-tensile electric fence designs on big-game movements and livestock containment. It looked at two wire, three wire and four wire electric fencing.
It found that the height of the electric fence matters most for elk, deer and pronghorn antelope and not the shock of the electricity. The wild animals can get through a three-wire electric without much stress.
The study was authored by Rory Karhu and Stanley Anderson of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
"If designed and maintained properly, a 3-wire electric fence can provide excellent containment of cattle and bison and still allow elk, deer and antelope to cross with minimal stress," Karhu said.
Standard barbed wire and barbed/woven wire fences in Wyoming are designed to control livestock while at the same time minimize impacts on big-game movements. However, pronghorn antelope, deer and elk still have difficulty crossing standard fence designs, he said.
Since the early 1980s, high-tensile electric fence has become available and popular across the state.
Data for the study was collected at eight private ranches in Wyoming, the agency's Sybille Wildlife Research Unit, one private ranch in Colorado and one Bureau of Land Management fence located near Farson in southwest Wyoming.
12/16/02
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Three-wire electric fence is best for keeping livestock contained while still allowing big game to pass, a new study says.
The state Game and Fish Department study evaluated high-tensile electric fence designs on big-game movements and livestock containment. It looked at two wire, three wire and four wire electric fencing.
It found that the height of the electric fence matters most for elk, deer and pronghorn antelope and not the shock of the electricity. The wild animals can get through a three-wire electric without much stress.
The study was authored by Rory Karhu and Stanley Anderson of the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
"If designed and maintained properly, a 3-wire electric fence can provide excellent containment of cattle and bison and still allow elk, deer and antelope to cross with minimal stress," Karhu said.
Standard barbed wire and barbed/woven wire fences in Wyoming are designed to control livestock while at the same time minimize impacts on big-game movements. However, pronghorn antelope, deer and elk still have difficulty crossing standard fence designs, he said.
Since the early 1980s, high-tensile electric fence has become available and popular across the state.
Data for the study was collected at eight private ranches in Wyoming, the agency's Sybille Wildlife Research Unit, one private ranch in Colorado and one Bureau of Land Management fence located near Farson in southwest Wyoming.
