National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)

What Does Wildlife Friendly Fence Mean?

I am standing in a pasture at 6:30 AM on a gorgeous cool, moist, July morning on the Taos Plateau with a small group of friends that are gearing up to work on fences for the day. The clear blue sky tells us it will get warm today but the moisture in the air and wispy clouds to the north bodes well for afternoon thunderstorms.

Today the Taos Soil and Water Conservation District (TSWCD), Mule Deer Foundation (MDF), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts (NMACD) greet volunteers from across the state who have come together to help re-construct fence to make big game migrations a little easier and save local ranchers some time in fence repair.

NMACD tells the group about the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the wonderful grant funds received to enhance big game migration and critical winter use areas between San Antonio Mountain and the Taos Plateau. BLM shares how important the public lands are to ranchers, wildlife and recreationists. MDF talks about the regional importance of this area for mule deer, elk and pronghorn, emphasizing this is one of only 5 high elevation pronghorn herds in the Nation. TSWCD shares how important landowners are to the local economy and overall health of our forests, watersheds, streams and wildlife.

“So, what is a Wildlife Friendly Fence” asks a ready volunteer. The quick answer was “It is a 4-strand fence with a smooth wire on the bottom and 3 barbed wires above, but we will work through the how to’s when we get over to the fence”.

BLM explained how to re-construct the fence and divvied out wire, bolt cutters, fencing pliers, fence stretchers, buckets for clips and fence stays and measuring sticks to the volunteers. After completing the first 300 ft. of fence everyone got into a rhythm and naturally took on jobs they were comfortable with and helped wherever needed.

“Why do you put a smooth wire on the bottom of the fence 16” above the ground” asked another volunteer. That makes it easier for pronghorn antelope to move between pastures and across the landscape since they don’t jump fences like elk and mule deer but instead go under them.

“Why don’t pronghorn jump fences like mule deer and elk” is asked next? “We don’t really know other than they are genetically built that way”.

Pronghorn Antelope

We make great headway during the day and take a break for lunch. As folks are walking back to the vehicles some of them had the opportunity to flush a ground nesting bird which they heard about earlier in the morning briefing and why this is one of the reasons not to drive vehicles off road.

While the lunch crowd was talking and sharing stories the question arose as to why there is a particular spacing of the 4 strands. A couple folks respond that the spacing is the best mix of keeping livestock in a pasture while allowing mule deer and elk to jump the fence easily and lessen the risk of tangling their hind hooves between the top two wires. This is particularly true for yearlings. Someone also says “don’t forget about the passage of pronghorn antelope under the smooth wire”.

After lunch we get back to it and watch the clouds gather for the afternoon. By 3:00 PM a dark cloud took aim and hit us with cold rain and temperature drops of 25 degrees sending us back to our host camp to snack and dry out. By 4:00 PM all is clear and the rain left us with an amazing earthy sweet aroma that cannot be described well in words. We were enticed to finish up our last leg of fence for the day and tie in with a ¼ mile fence panel.

We celebrated the completion of our first sections of fence reconstruction, making big game migrations a little easier, keeping the ranchers fences intact, the amazing rainfall and beauty of the New Mexico’s landscape and the opportunity to meet new people that can share with others what “Wildlife Friendly Fences” are.

Hope to see all of you and others for our next reconstruction!!!