Tag: baling twine

Osprey

Baling Twine, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of some discarded baling twine which is dangerous to wildlife.
Dangerous to Wildlife

A few days ago I wrote about the dangers of baling twine to ospreys.  This is what it looks like up close.  I found it on the edge of the road on the way to the turnoff for Chimney Rock.  I picked it up to properly dispose of it, but I took some photos first.  It’s made of plastic and seems light as a feather.  Given that it is used and has been coiled up, someone probably picked it up from a field and intended to dispose of it properly, but lost if from the back of a truck.  It looks like there are about three or four separate pieces of twine.

It was interesting that I found it yesterday morning because I planned to go out Limantour Road to check on something and on the way I intended to check on some osprey nests in a canyon that runs up to the road.   The two nests I had in mind were there and there was an osprey in each nest when I arrived.  I spotted a nest farther out that also had an osprey in it.  The osprey in the closest nest took off shortly after I parked my car in the little pull out.

Photo of an osprey nest in Point Reyes National Seashore
No Baling Twine

This is the closest nest.  It’s about 75 to 100 yards from where I parked.  The other nests are even farther away.   There didn’t seem to be any young in the nests.  I didn’t see any baling twine in them either, which was good.  The nests are not very close to the ranching areas of Point Reyes which lessens the chance that twine would get into them.  Plus,  I assume the Park Service has made an effort to educate the ranchers to the potential dangers of leaving twine in the fields if they didn’t know of the dangers already.

Update:  after I drafted this post I went out to my car and pulled the stuff apart.  There were five equal lengths.  Each was roughly 20 feet long.  It cuts easily using  a scissors.  It was very hard to cut with a box cutter.  I gathered each piece so it was four strands wide and then cut it across five times so I ended up with roughly foot-long strands.  It didn’t take long.  I then put all the pieces into a medium size plastic bag which I tied at the top.  The bag could have held several times more twine.  If the bag winds up on the top of a landfill it shouldn’t pose a potential risk.  I think if I were a rancher and had lots to get rid of I’d maybe skip the cutting and put it in large bags that were sealed closed.  There may be ways to re-cycle it as well.

If you come across any of this stuff please pick it up and dispose of it properly.

Osprey

Baling Twine, Potential Osprey Death Trap

Photo of osprey nest made up mostly of baling twine.
Osprey Nest Comprised Mostly of Baling Twine

As I was driving home after my visit to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, I saw something in the distance that caught my eye.  It turned out to be a raptor nest made mostly of baling twine.  I didn’t see any bird(s) in the nest at the time, but given the nest itself atop a power pole with baling twine as the main nest material, and the fact that the nest was near a river, I assumed the nest was built by ospreys.

I wrote an article about the dangers of baling twine to wildlife last August.  It was triggered by a photo I took of a bull elk with a bit of baling twine caught in its antlers.  You can read the article by clicking here.  Ospreys are especially prone to injury and death by baling twine.  The internet is full of articles about ospreys and the deadly effects of baling twine on them.  Ospreys really like this light, soft material for nest-building.

The nest is close to the highway and at the entrance to Cooke’s Warm Creek Ranch which is in the Victor, Idaho, area.  I did a google search and got one hit for the ranch.  It turns out that the ranch is the site of a wetland restoration project that was done by Ducks Unlimited, the Teton Regional Land Trust and the ranch.  That told me that the rancher was interested in protecting wildlife.  You can read about the project here.

Photo of entrance to ranch.
Location of Nest

I felt the nest was an issue I needed to pursue.  I called the Teton Regional Land Trust and spoke to a fellow named Matt.  Matt was aware of the nest.  He told me the nest has been used for 15 years and, so far, no casualties.   He said baling twine is a serious problem and his organization has been working with ranchers to make sure no twine is left in the fields any more, but that there are nests like the one above with twine in them due to old practices.  It’s not a simple matter of going to the nests and removing the twine because ospreys may abandon the nests.  Because of this concern Idaho fish and Game’s policy is to leave the nests alone unless there is a power problem cause by the twine.

The upshot of this is that I have a better understanding of the problem.  Just because a nest has baling twine in it doesn’t mean it should be removed from the nest.  It seems to me the most important thing to do about baling twine is to not let ospreys get any of it in the first place.  That means educating ranchers about its dangers.  The Regional Teton Land Trust is doing that as I’m sure many other organizations are.  I hope the manufacturers of baling twine are doing that as well with some sort of warning on their packaging.

Matt told me that Warm Creek is just that.  It is a spring creek that, due to its warm water, is an important open water area in winter for species like trumpeter swans and moose.  It is a tributary of the Teton River.

Tule Elk

Bull Tule Elk After a Fight

Photo of a bull tule elk after a fight.
Injured Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

I wrote this post at the same time as the previous one.  The point of this one was going to be to show how the bull in that post looked after an apparent fight.  In looking over the draft of this post I now realize this isn’t the same bull.  This bull’s antlers are “palmated,” especially the right one.  Furthermore, I don’t see any baling twine.  I guess I jumped to the conclusion that it was the same bull because this big bull was returning to the same 8 cows that I saw the previous bull with in the same spot an hour before.   In view of the fact that this is the one returning to the harem, it appears he is the dominant bull in this area.

He was limping very noticeably which seemed to be due to an injured left shoulder.  The area behind his lower left shoulder seems devoid of any hair.   His left flank may also show evidence of a fight.  He was panting heavily for the 10 to 15 minutes I observed him and his mouth was open almost all that time.  I assume this bull was in a fight with the bull in the previous post.  Even though he was showing signs of stress from what I presume was a fight, he still checked out a couple of cows that must have been close to being ready to mate.  Being the dominant bull is a lot of work and leaves the big bulls in a weaker state when winter arrives.  Point Reyes is a pretty safe place though for a weakened bull elk.  It’s a lot tougher in Yellowstone with the low temperatures, the snow and the wolves.

Tule Elk

Bull Tule Elk with Baling Twine Caught in Antlers

Photo of a bull tule elk with baling twine caught in his antlers.
Tule Elk Bull, Limantour Herd; Point Reyes National Seashore

This 7-point bull is the largest I’ve seen so far this fall in that portion of the Limantour herd that uses the D Ranch near Drake’s Beach.   About an hour after this photo was taken I saw him again and he was limping.  I think he had been a in a fight.  What I want to point out in this photo, however, is that he has some baling twine caught in his antlers.  Here is a closer view of the baling twine.

Close-up photo of a bull tule elk with baling twine caught in his antlers.
Cropped photo showing baling twine caught in antlers; Point Reyes National Seashore

Baling twine and baling wire, which are used to bale hay, cause many unnecessary injuries and deaths each year to wildlife.  Animals manage to get their legs, talons and other body parts tangled in it.  To read an article about its dangers click here.  The next time this bull scrapes ground cover some of it will get caught in the twine and some of it may cover the animals face, including its eyes.  Depending on its breaking strength, it may also tie the bull to a fence or a piece of vegetation that the bull can’t break or it may hold two bulls together when they try to break from a fight.  Tensile strength is in the hundreds of pounds.  Other species, such as ospreys, are attracted to it for nest-building material.  There are reported cases of ospreys being killed when flying with a long piece of it dangling from their talons.  The trailing piece gets caught in a tree limb as a bird flies over it and the bird dies either immediately or over a long time if it can’t free itself of the twine.  If it makes it into the nest it can cause death there as well.  To see what can happen at a nest site click here.  It reminds me of monofilament fishing line which thoughtless fishermen discard.  Monofilament is even used for some baling products.  If you see discarded baling twine please collect it and dispose of it properly.  Included in that is cutting it into small pieces so it doesn’t become dangerous again on the surface of a landfill.

Baling twine is now being manufactured that decomposes over time.  While this is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t break down for over a year.