Category: Elk

Elk

Elk Calf, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of an elk calf less that one day old lying along the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park.

An elk calf that is less than a day old rests near its mother along the Madison River  A pair of coyotes was also nearby.  If I could talk to it, I would tell it that it needs to find a better place to hide from predators.

Deer, Elk, Fencing

Blacktail Deer Clears Fence at Point Reyes National Seashore

This photo shows a deer jumping over a barbed-wire fence.

Blacktail deer clears a fence at Point Reyes.

The most common way barbed-wire fences kill deer and elk is when they get their hind legs caught between the top two wires.   If you were to picture how they might jump, you might think of how a human performs a swan dive with back legs pointed to the rear.  But no, deer need to have their hind legs pointed forward immediately after beginning the jump so their hind legs hit the ground right after the front legs.  The photo above illustrates this.

If the top wire isn’t cleared and there isn’t at least 12 inches between the top wires, then their hooves go under the second wire and the result is that the top wire and the second wire reverse positions as the deer gets caught and falls.  That reversal is called “scissoring.”  A good way to demonstrate this is to take a rubber band and stretch it between your thumb and index finger.  Now take a pen or pencil and insert it between the top and lower band and rotate it 270 degrees.

The deer’s weight causes it to hang from the top two wires and it is impossible for the deer to free itself.  If the wires are far enough apart scissoring won’t happen, although the deer may still get injured in falling, especially if a barb is in contact with one or both legs.

If you want to see an example of scissoring, click here.

This Point Reyes elk somehow got barbed wire tangled in his antlers.  NPS informed me many weeks later that the wire somehow fell off.  I hope so.

This is a photo of a bull tule elk in the rutting season with barbed wire caught in his antlers.

A bull tule elk has caught some barbed wire in his antlers. This can lead to injury or death.

This Point Reyes bull elk wasn’t so lucky.

This is a photo of the skull of a bull elk with barbed wire tangled in the antlers and tightly wound around its lower jaw.

Bull Elk Killed by Barbed Wire

The wire wrapped across the bridge of its nose and its lower jaw.  Its mouth was wired shut and it died slowly from lack of food or water or both.    Note how the wire worked its way half way through its lower jaw.

Fencing is dangerous for wildlife and doesn’t belong in a national park.  Cattle and the business of ranching on national park lands don’t belong in a national park either.

Deer, Elk, Fencing, Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore Sets World Record for Livestock Fence Height

This is a photo of a barbed wire fence that is 55 inches in height which is much higher than a deer or elk can jump.

Barbed Wire Fence Is 56 Inches High, Not the Preferred 40 Inches

On January 15 I wrote about a new fence along the reconstructed Sir Francis Drake Boulevard that runs from Estero Road to near Schooner Creek Road.  It violates almost every rule for wildlife-friendly fencing even though NPS said in its FEIS that any new fences would be wildlife-friendly.   The top wire is 48 inches high with 12 inches between each of the wires below it, leaving the bottom wire 12 inches above ground for deer fawns and elk calves to have to try to crawl under.  They can’t do that, especially with barbed wire tearing their flesh.

On January 24 I drove out the reconstructed Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to Chimney Rock and the lighthouse and found further new fencing along it even worse than the fencing I wrote about on January 15 because it is absurdly high.

I listed the specs for a wildlife-friendly fence in my January 15 blog.  Here they are again:

  1. The top wire should be low enough for adult animals to jump over, preferably no more than 40 inches, and “absolutely no more than 42 inches.”
  2. The distance between the top two wires should be “[a]t least 12 inches,” so elk and deer won’t tangle their back legs with the top wires; (For a photo showing what happens if the top two wires are not far enough apart, click here.)
  3. The bottom wire should be “at least 18 inches,” above the ground.
  4. The top and bottom strands should be “smooth wire” (like regular two strand twisted barbed wire, but without the added barbs) so animals don’t get snagged and injured.
  5. No vertical stays.

Also, the top wire should be made highly visible so mammals and birds see it when running and/or flying by using high visibility wire or sections of white pvc pipe, flagging or a top rail.

The top wire of the newest found fence here is 56 inches high with 12 inches between each of the wires below it, leaving the bottom wire 20 inches above ground.  Put another way, the wires are 56, 44, 32 and 20 inches above ground.  The top and bottom wires are not smooth; there is no flagging or anything else used to make the top wire visible to mammals and birds running and/or flying and there are not supposed to be any vertical stays.

So, what will it take for NPS to make this fence wildlife-friendly?  The top wire needs to be removed because it is barbed and way too high.  The wire below it, which is now 44 inches above ground, needs to be removed because it will be the top wire, but it is barbed so it can’t be used as the top wire, and because it is also too high so it needs to be lowered by 2 inches or, preferably, four inches. to 42 or 40 inches.  That wire, as the new top wire, also needs to be made more visible.  When that new top wire is installed, the wire below it, now at 32 inches above ground, will need to be lowered because, as the new second wire, it must be at least 12 inches below the new top wire.   The bottom wire needs to be replaced because it is barbed, not smooth, and the vertical stays need to be removed.

As I think about the fences in the three articles I’ve written recently, what I’m most struck by is how NPS says new fencing will be wildlife-friendly and it doesn’t keep its word.  Far from it.  How can the public expect that appropriate construction specs and all the mitigation measures will be followed for new projects described in the FEIS?  And, by the way, what about all the damage done in the past from ranching that still remains?  No commitments were made in the FEIS to remediate past (and continuing) damage to water quality; native plants; soils (damaged and/or lost due to compaction, and erosion and resultant gullies); native fish and wildlife species, such as salmon, steelhead, pronghorns, ground squirrels; etc.

What is Superintendent Craig Kenkel’s response to all this?  Ask him:  Craig_Kenkel@nps.gov.

Elk

Point Reyes; Fencing in Home Range of Drakes Beach Elk Herd Is NOT Wildlife-Friendly

A friend read my blog about the new fence along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and sent me two photos.  They showed a 7-strand barbed wire fence that looked very tall and there was very little space between the top two wires and between the bottom wire and the ground.  He added that the fence was along Drakes Beach Road where the Drakes Beach elk herd exists.  That was surprising and concerning to me.  I had checked the fences throughout PRNS, including along Drakes Beach Road, for a fencing blog I wrote in 2014 (available here) and I never saw a 7-wire fence in Point Reyes then, let alone in a place so important to the wild free-roaming Drakes Beach elk herd.

So, the next day I went to investigate.  Here’s what I found:

This is a photo of a fence which is difficult for a deer or elk to jump over or for deer fawns or elk calves to crawl under.

Good Example of a Fence on East Side of D Ranch that is Not Wildlife-Friendly

Before discussing the fence in the photo above, I want to point out that in its EIS for a new general management plan for the ranching area, NPS stated that it would follow wildlife-friendly fencing standards in managing the area.  It adopted the specs of USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).  The NRCS specs adopt “A Landowner’s Guide to Wildlife Friendly Fences: How to Build Fences with Wildlife in Mind.”  First edition (2008).  To view the NRCS specs/Landowner’s Guide, click here.  It describes a wildlife-friendly fence as generally one that allows animals to jump over or crawl under it without injury.  Page 8.   More specifically:

  1. The top wire should be low enough for adult animals to jump over, preferably 40 inches, and “absolutely no more than 42 inches.”  Id.
  2. The distance between the top two wires should be “[a]t least 12 inches,” so elk and deer won’t tangle their back legs with the top wires; Id.  (For a photo showing what happens if the top two wires are not far enough apart, click here.  It’s called “scissoring.”)
  3. The bottom wire should be “at least 18 inches,” above the ground.  Id.
  4. The top and bottom strands should be “smooth wire” (like regular two strand twisted barbed wire, but without the added barbs) so animals don’t get snagged and injured.   Id.
  5. No vertical stays.  Id.

Finally, the top wire should be made highly visible so mammals and birds see it when running or flying by using high visibility wire or sections of white pvc pipe, flagging or a top rail.  Id.

How does the above fence stack up against the wildlife-friendly fence specs?  Not very well.  The fence is 47 inches high and there is only a clearance of 6 inches between the two top wires.  The top wire should no more than 42 inches high and, preferably, only 40 inches high.  The clearance between the two top wires should be at least 12 inches to prevent scissoring.  The bottom wire is a little over 12 inches above ground and it should be 18 inches.  The top and bottom wires should be smooth and the top wire needs to be made more visible.  Starting from the top, it looks like the second, fourth and sixth wires are new and taut and the first, third, fifth and bottom wires are old, rusted and not taut.  It seems like it was partially replaced recently.

As was evident in my previous article about new fencing along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, NPS doesn’t seem too enamored with wildlife-friendly fencing.  It didn’t follow it there.  Furthermore, in the EIS NPS said wildlife-friendly fencing would only be used when new or replacement fences are built.  Finally, it said only 20% of existing fencing would be replaced in the next 20 years.  That’s 1% (3.4 miles) of 340 miles of existing fencing per year.  Obviously, making fencing wildlife-friendly is not a high priority for the Park Service at Point Reyes.

However, the FEIS Appendix also states as follows:  “While all new Fencing would be required to be wildlife friendly, the EIS does not require that existing fencing be changed until it needs to be replaced because replacing all fencing would be cost prohibitive. NPS would work with ranchers as needed to make adjustments to fences that pose a threat to wildlife.  In areas where elk occur, fences would be repaired and/or replaced with wildlife-friendly fence designs that reduce the extent of damage by elk, and as existing fencing is replaced, it would be replaced with wildlife-friendly Fencing.”  FEIS, Appendix at P-42.  (Emphasis added.)

This fence certainly poses “a threat to wildlife.”  It’s also in an area “where elk occur” so it should be, without doubt, a very high priority for NPS to make wildlife-friendly.  The same should apply to the entire stretch of fencing along both sides of the road to Drakes Beach because the elk cross the road for its entire length and not one part of it is wildlife-friendly.  Furthermore, NPS has a statutory duty to protect and preserve wildlife and the existing fencing along Drakes Beach Road is a threat to that wildlife.  This actually applies to all fencing at Point Reyes (and Golden Gate NRA)  because deer and elk exist all over and none of the fencing is wildlife-friendly.

About 10 years ago, NPS modified two or three sections of the fencing on each side of Drakes Beach Road to provide the elk some spots where they could clear the fence easily.  This was for the benefit of the A and C Ranches who have grazing privileges there and who often complained of the cost of repair for broken fence wires (that were broken because they were kept too high).  It was also of benefit to the elk by reducing injuries to them when they jump the wildlife-unfriendly fences on both sides of the road.

This is a photo of a fence that was made wildlife-friendly and then a rancher undid that.

Wildlife-Friendly Fence Undone by C Ranch

I mentioned these lowered fences in my 2014 blog about the fencing at Point Reyes being so unfriendly to wildlife with these few exceptions for the elk along Drakes Beach Road. Well, as the photo above shows, the ranchers didn’t like making it easier for the elk to jump the fences even if it reduced their need to repair fence wires because they don’t want any elk eating any grass on the lands they have subsidized permits for.   So, they ignored NPS’s attempt to do a good thing and strung wire at a height that would cause elk problems.  In the photo above, the top of the board is 37.5 inches.  That was how NPS had modified the fence so elk could clear it easily and safely.  The C Ranch added a barbed (not smooth) wire.  That wire is 45.5 inches high.  Due to the distance and lighting, the rest of the wires are difficult to see, but there are two additional wires (not counting the angled tension wires) plus the board.  The lowest wire is at 18 inches.  In summary, this spot is no longer easy for elk to jump and the rancher can continue to complain about the elk damaging the fences on his side of the road because the entire fence run is wildlife-unfriendly.  I noticed the other spots along Drakes Beach Road where NPS had removed the top wire and replaced it by a board lower down were also all changed by the two ranchers.

NPS never did anything about what the ranchers did to undo NPS’s attempt to reduce elk problems with the fences.  NPS should immediately convert the new Sir Francis Drake Boulevard section of fencing that I wrote about recently, and this fencing along both sides of Drakes Beach Road, to be wildlife-friendly.  Then, it should do the same with all other fencing in the two parks and complete the work in no more than twelve months.