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<\/p>\nThe Centennial Valley is teeming with pronghorns. And with ranches that are fenced off with barbed wire. That combination is a recipe for disaster, in part because, unlike deer and elk, pronghorn rarely jump fences. Instead, they try to go under them or through them, so it isn’t unusual for pronghorn to get snagged by the barbs. The result can be serious injury or even death.<\/p>\n
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Some years ago I had to free this pronghorn fawn in the Centennial Valley from barbed wire that had been snagged by a single barb that hooked the inside of its left front leg. It had tried to follow its mother through the wire and didn’t make it. Thankfully, this time I didn’t have to cut the wire.<\/p>\n
The ungrateful little rascal kicked me as it ran off.<\/p>\n
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So on my recent camping trip to the Centennial Valley I was fearful for this doe pronghorn as she approached this barbed wire fence with the obvious intention of going through or under it. She was caught between fences on both sides of the road I was on and she panicked as I approached. Here she looks like she was approaching the fence slowly and carefully but in reality she was going at quite a clip.<\/p>\n
But what I didn’t notice at the time is that this fence is special.<\/p>\n
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Some ranchers in the valley have installed pronghorn-friendly barbed wire fences that have no barbs on the bottom wire. This fence is one of them.<\/p>\n
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She went under that fence as slick as a whistle, with no fur or hide patches left on the wire.<\/p>\n
I see more fences like this one each time I visit the valley. Fencing is expensive but with the encouragement of various environmental organizations, ranchers are increasingly doing what they can to protect pronghorn and other wildlife in the valley.<\/p>\n
And pronghorn-friendly fences aren’t the only example of ranchers trying to protect wildlife in the valley. Much of the huge valley is Sage Grouse country. When in flight, grouse have a hard time seeing barbed wire, so they often crash into it. When a 6+ lb. Sage Grouse crashes into barbed wire at speed, the results are predictably disastrous.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/fence-flags-for-sage-grouse-2524-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"fence-flags-for-sage-grouse-2524-ron-dudley\\"")
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So some ranchers have allowed organizations like the Nature Conservancy to install bright white fence flags on their barbed wire fences. The flags are easy to see and research has shown that they significantly reduce grouse\/fence mayhem. I took this photo on June 19th in one of the more remote areas of the valley.<\/p>\n
Perhaps half an hour after this photo was taken I talked to a local rancher (Justin) about the fence flags. Here’s what he said (paraphrased) – “As long they (the Nature Conservancy and organizations like them) are willing to pay for them, and install them, I’m certainly willing to allow them to do so.”<\/p>\n
Barbless wire and fence flags – steps in the right direction.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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