![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pronghorn-5906-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"pronghorn-5906-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nThere are no easy answers for the dilemma of barbed wire and its effects on wildlife and even domestic animals, especially if you’re a farmer or rancher. But we can certainly improve our track record if we realize there’s a problem. A big one.<\/p>\n
Some veteran followers of Feathered Photography may be disappointed with today’s post because you’ll have seen many\u00a0(though not all)\u00a0of these photos before, some of them more than once. But a comment exchange I had with Judy Gusick on yesterday’s post reminded me that I’ve wanted to publish a post like\u00a0today’s for several years now\u00a0so I decided to do it while it’s on my mind. I’ll explain my reasoning\u00a0for doing so in more detail\u00a0at the conclusion of this post.<\/p>\n
As many of you know I’ve documented a variety of nasty encounters between wildlife and barbed wire over the years and the photos below summarize and condense some of what I’ve seen.\u00a0There\u00a0have also been others where I didn’t take any photos for a variety of reasons. I’m going to try to keep my narrative as brief as I can because the images\u00a0speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A pronghorn fawn snagged on a single barb of barbed wire\u00a0under its left front armpit\u00a0in Montana’s Centennial Valley. When I released the feisty fawn from the wire\u00a0“he” wasn’t injured and ran briskly to his mother. He thanked me with a swift kick to my right arm as I released him and I was delighted to\u00a0receive it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/short-eared-owl-2430-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"short-eared-owl-2430-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
A juvenile male\u00a0Short-eared Owl hung up on barbed wire in Box Elder County, Utah. I had to cut the wire to get him extricated and then he was delivered to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah (WRCNU) where he was rehabbed for many months but because of his wing\u00a0injury (obvious in the photo)\u00a0he couldn’t be released back into the wild. So he’s now an education bird for HawkWatch International.<\/p>\n
His name is Galileo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/burrowing-owl-4573-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"burrowing-owl-4573-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
A dead Burrowing Owl hanging from barbed wire in roughly the same area where we rescued Galileo. The talons of this bird are filled with what must be its own feathers, presumably pulled out of its body in the struggle to escape from the wire. Sadly this is the end result of most encounters between birds and barbed wire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/barn-owl-8407d-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"barn-owl-8407d-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
A spectacularly beautiful Barn Owl snagged by barbed wire in Montana’s Centennial Valley. I had to cut the wire for this bird too. The owl was delivered to the Montana Raptor Resource Center (MRRC) in Bozeman where it was rehabbed for several months before being released back into the Centennial Valley.<\/p>\n
This was one of the few Barn Owls ever seen in\u00a0the state of \u00a0Montana so I was ecstatic that it was released back into the wild where we originally found it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/bat-8332-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"bat-8332-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
Barbed wire is nasty for almost any wild or domestic animal that has a serious encounter with it and that includes bats. I photographed this dried bat hanging from a single barb, also in the Centennial Valley.\u00a0This older version of the photo is a little over-sharpened but I didn’t have time to look for the original file and\u00a0work up another one.<\/p>\n
My point is that barbed wire is truly nasty, evil stuff for critters of all kinds\u00a0and I just wish it would go away or\u00a0had never been “invented” in the first place. In previous posts we’ve all discussed some alternatives, included barbless wire, barbed wire with fewer barbs, electric fences,\u00a0fences other than wire fences and a few others. Wire fences\u00a0of any kind, barbed or not, are deadly to fast-flying birds, especially larger ones like Sage Grouse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When I’ve posted some of these photos previously they’ve always been in separate posts separated by time so most folks who may stumble across\u00a0one of them by using search engines like Google won’t get the full impact that I hope this edition of Feathered Photography delivers. With multiple examples in the same post\u00a0of\u00a0many individuals and\u00a0species being devastated by that damned wire\u00a0and\u00a0documented by a single person I hope it has more impact. If I alone have seen this many examples (and I’ve seen many more than just\u00a0these), how many are there really?<\/p>\n
It’s my hope that this post will be seen by more non-followers of my blog than usual because of the many species involved and\u00a0careful choice of my search engine “tags”. And maybe, just maybe,\u00a0the impact of this many critters being devastated by the devil wire\u00a0will have some small effect on reducing the use of barbed wire over time.<\/p>\n
I can only try.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note:<\/em><\/p>\n I have to include one last photo because the experience it documents has affected my visceral reaction to barbed wire even though it isn’t the “fault” of the wire. I have the reaction simply by association.<\/em><\/p>\n There’s a breed of westerner that I’m deeply\u00a0ashamed of – the low-brow\u00a0sickos that like to kill animals, especially predators, and hang them\u00a0on barbed wire fences as some kind of sick\u00a0trophy for all who pass by to see.\u00a0They do it with coyotes especially but any predator will do, including bobcats and they’ve traditionally done it with wolves and mountain lions in the past. They’ve even done it with raptors and they do it proudly.<\/em><\/p>\n The photo below is graphic and gut-wrenching. Some will wish they hadn’t seen it, especially those who have a fondness for cats. So please, scroll no further if there’s any possibility that you’ll wish you hadn’t.<\/em><\/p>\n You have been warned repeatedly\u00a0so please, no complaints. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Someone had shot this apparently feral\u00a0cat and impaled it on a fence post supporting barbed wire in a\u00a0remote\u00a0area of\u00a0Box Elder County. But if you can believe it the entire scene was much more gruesome than this. They’d also shot two more cats, two red foxes and a raven and strung them up in a nearby tree. And there was a dead coyote hanging on a fence just down the road.<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, the incident was reported to authorities. More photos and details can be found here<\/a> if you have the interest and the stomach for it\u00a0but once again I warn you – the photos are graphic and the incident disturbing, even though there’s no blood and guts to be seen. Proceed to that link with caution.<\/em><\/p>\n Obviously this wasn’t the fault of barbed wire, instead\u00a0it was the fault of assholes, pure and simple. But even though it isn’t logical I can’t help associating this scene with barbed wire because the degenerates who do this kind of thing use barbed wire as a tool of their trade. So I wanted to\u00a0openly admit up front\u00a0that\u00a0the experience might color my negative reaction to\u00a0barbed wire. <\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/cat-7004-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"cat-7004-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n