Suggestion
for FENCE-FLAG® Wolf Training to mitigate Depredation of Livestock, their guard
dogs & your pets!
This site is the sister site of WWW.FENCE-FLAG.COM and is in the spirit
of disseminating information intended to mitigate the growing Wolf Depredation
of Domestic Livestock as Cattle, Sheep etc., including their guard dogs, and
your pets, that continues a contentious issue between those who responsibly
raise Livestock, whether Hobby Farmers or Commercial Producers, and
Conservationists who encourage the greater distribution of Wolves in the
Western United States, since they were re-introduced into the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1995 / 1996, and since are Federally protected and /or
State regulated. The permitted culling of “problem” Wolves ( at times a single
member of a pack) that have been documented as predatory to Domestic Livestock
by hazing with Red Fladry (boo scaring), trapping, shooting from the ground and
from Helicopters, as an intended deterrent to train– ( bad Wolf, don’t do that!
) others in a pack, is a wishful thought to temporarily appease the property
owner. Common Sense should have come to the decision that Domestic Livestock
will be, and are, a much easier prey to chase as they certainly are less fleet
footed than Ungulates ( wildlife as Deer, Elk, etc.), and are in many places in
greater numbers. Wolves increasingly do kill (thrill kill has been documented)
and most likely, Domestic Livestock do provide a more flavor full nutritious
meal. On the producers side, who suffer the losses beyond just monetary, some
of their alternative responses to Wolf Depredation of their Livestock does go
to the extreme of Shoot, Shovel and Shut-Up! I will be offering a suggestion,
certainly a more cost advantage, compared to the promoted Fladry, to mitigate
some of the Wolf Depredation to BOTH sides of this dilemma, that can have a
positive recognizable result; rather than paying a “Facilitator” nearly 2
Million dollars over a 4 year period ( Washington Dept of Fish & Wildlife )
to control the “mental of Producers and Conservationists” of both sides of this
issue. Depredation certainly will grow with Wolves with their expanding
dispersed populations. I do credit the Capital Press WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM (a weekly
agricultural newspaper covering the Western U.S.) and compliment its
Investigative Journalists for their continuing due diligence on exposing Wolf
Depredation.
For regular updates on Wolf Depredation in Oregon, provided by the
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, the following link is provided.
WARNING, the documented Harm, Kill, & Consuming of Domestic Livestock
descriptions are graphic; but necessary to give a clear picture of the fear and
the agony experienced as Wolves prey on Domestic Livestock rather than
Wildlife; a learned delicious opportunity for a food source that historically
was never available to them! One example of Oregon”s F&W update link on
Wolf Depredation follows. http://dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_livestock_updates.asp
“January 1, 2019 – Jackson County (Boundary Butte area) Date
Investigated: 1/1-2/2019 Cause of death/injury: Confirmed General situation and
animal information: On the morning of 1/1/19, a livestock owner found an
injured, 5-month-old, 235 lb. calf in a private-land pasture. An approximately
2-foot length of intestine was protruding from the anus with tissue trauma
evident on the hindquarters and abdomen. The injuries were estimated to have
occurred less than 12 hours earlier. The animal was euthanized on site, the
carcass was brought to an ODFW office, and the examination was completed the
morning of 1/2/19. Physical evidence and summary of findings: The entire
carcass was shaved and skinned. More than 100 tooth scrapes from 1/16 to 1/4
inch diameter were found on the hide of the neck, abdomen, flanks, and
hindquarters. Associated trauma extending up to 1 1/2 inches into muscle tissue
was found on the inside of the hind legs from the abdomen back to the tail and
down the legs to within 3 inches of the hocks. The premortem muscle tissue
trauma is a clear sign of predator attack and the size, number, and location of
the bite injuries are similar to injuries observed on other calves attacked by
wolves. The Rogue Pack has previously depredated on this property.”
An example of a Wolf Pack – courtesy of free
Wolf photos
FENCE-FLAGS® were Invented and U.S.
Patented by myself, Donald J Kaleta; then manufactured and distributed by us,
MOM & POP PRODUCTS CO., as a Fence Warning Device; originally to train our
personally owned Livestock and the Wildlife on legs, White Tail Deer that
frequented our property, especially at night! The many past recent years have
seen our FENCE-FLAGS® evolve into mitigating the wildlife fence impact issue to
those with wings in flight that continues problematic with Sage Grouse in the
Western States, Hawaiian Petrel (endangered species), Great Bustard (endangered
in Portugal), as all have been documented as impacting un-detected wire barrier
fences to their demise. VISIBLE detection to alert of a wire fence barrier; due
to combined White color and / or alternating Black over Snow, with motion movement detection of our plastic hang tag, suspended
from our uniquely formed Stainless Steel K-CLIP® attached Slip Resistant, does
compel detection, from great distances, especially in darkness; a notice to
avoid impact. If responsibly installed per instructions and DC Electrified, a
training to avoid future contact! They are a VISUAL tool NOT a scare device.
My Simmentals in the below photo are an example
of training, as “Buster”, with his out stretched neck, in a cautious
inquisitive pose, was about to have, and did have, a pain learned deterrent to
NOT contact the FENCE-FLAGS® and the DC Electrified wire barrier that supports
them. Our dual purpose intent was also a notification of our temporary wire
barrier to the White Tail Deer as an encouragement to either jump our fence or
change direction rather than impact and tear it down as they passed thru our
property, especially during darkness. Unsolicited testimonials of our
FENCE-FLAGS® Visibility and their success to mitigate fence damage thru impact,
because the fence was not detected, can be viewed at WWW.VALLEYVET.COM, one of our catalog
distributors—search FENCE-FLAGS® then comments. Our other retail catalog
distributors are also included with links at the end of this page.
It was also evident with my personal experience, that our dog
after just a single unpleasant (pain) contact with our D.C. Electrified
temporary fence, would refuse to go under the wire again, shy from getting
close, and she balked at going past the area it used to be, when the DC
Electrified temporary wire barrier was taken down. This example is a common
comment we’ve heard from many inquisitive conversations we’ve had during
promotional exhibits at Agricultural and Equine shows throughout the U.S.
including Canada.
Dogs are easily trained to identify, respect and
fear, to not again trespass an identifiable FENCE-FLAG® and D.C. Electric
barrier that supports them. Invisible fences, as perimeter wires buried in the
ground, that excite (a minimal battery shock) receiver collar around a dogs
neck, have proven to train dogs to NOT breach
a perimeter, that responsibly was identified to them VISUALLY by training with perimeter
staked White flags.
Wolves (canis
lupus), coyotes (canis
latrans), and domestic dogs (canis
familiaris) are closely-related species.
All three can interbreed and produce viable, fertile offspring — wolfdogs,
coywolves, and coydogs. Through DNA analysis, scientists have established that
the wolf is the ancestor of the dog.
RED
FLADRY
wdfw.wa.gov
wdfw.wa.gov
Fladry
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.
Fladry Line Illustration
Fladry is a line of rope
mounted along the top of a fence, from which are
suspended strips of fabric or colored flags that will flap in a breeze,
intended to deter wolves from crossing the
fence-line.[1] Fladry lines have
been used for this purpose for several centuries, traditionally for hunting
wolves in Eastern Europe.[1] They are effective
temporarily, as the novelty may soon wear off, usually between three and five
months, and can be used to protect livestock in small pastures
from wolves.[1]
This technique is sometimes also used to alert horses and cattle
to the presence of a fence, as the use of smooth wire fences and one strand of
electric may not be seen by an animal unfamiliar with a new home.
Red Fladry is an example of an
“old wives tale” that originated in Europe many years ago (as a deflection
barrier while hunting Wolves) and continues to be repeated and promoted as a
Wolf scare deterrent to this day. The promotion of Wolf “Fladry” (red streamers
suspended from rope, twine or wires) and “Turbo Fladry” (DC electrified) that
are promoted as a scare repellant to mitigate Wolf Depredation is well known to
myself ( Google searching “Wolf Fladry Photos” will show many examples ); yet
in my experience and proven by others research; Red is one color that Wolves
cannot detect (see) as we Humans do. This statement also relates to Ungulates
as Deer and Elk for examples. The single greatest attribute Wolves and
Ungulates have in common is movement
detection; Wolves for detecting prey and Ungulates for protection
from predators, both from great distances, especially in darkness! Google
search quires of “Can Wolves See Colors” and “Ungulate Color Vision” are two
examples for further definitive information on what they see and explanations
as to why they differ from our Human color detection.
The following “The Interesting Eyes of the Wolf” by Bob MacPherson
inserted below, is one of many available thru Google search who have concluded
an easy to understand difference in vision color detection.
Did You Know?
The Interesting Eyes of the
Wolf
The evolution of the dog-like family over the last 40 million years
has been very successful (Wang and Tedford 2008). The wolf (Canis lupus),
the largest living member of this family, has evolved unique physical
attributes that aid it in hunting food – its vision system is one of
these. Wolves are carnivores that chase their prey, often at dusk, dawn,
and during the night. They need the ability to see prey clearly at long
distances, over a wide field of view, and in poor light. A good way to
understand how wolves see is to compare their vision with ours.
We are primates, mammals that include lemurs, monkeys, apes, and us. Our
eyes are pointed straight ahead. That is, both eyes see the same field, except
for the area blocked by our nose! So, we have binocular vision over most
of our 180-degree visual range (Harrington and Asa 2003, Plonsky 1998).
Wolves’ eyes, on the other hand, point 25 degrees apart laterally,
so they have a more limited range of binocular vision. However, they have
a much wider field of view than we do (about 250 degrees) (Harrington and Asa
2003, Plonsky 1998). See illustration.
The inside backs of both our eyes and wolves’ eyes are covered
with retinas, light sensitive membranes that send vision signals to our
brains. A lens at the front of the eye focuses images on the
retina.
Wolves and people have very different color vision. We, and
many other primates, have three-color vision (Jacobs and Nathans 2009).
That is, we have three color-sensitive receptors in our eyes called cone cells
– roughly blue, green, and yellow.
Wolves have only two such color receptors. The range of hues
wolves can discriminate is much reduced compared to us. See illustration.
All mammals have another kind of vision cell that is sensitive to very low
light levels, but not to colors. These cells are called rods. We
have a depression at the center focal point of our retinas called the fovea,
which has a very high concentration of cones, but no rods for night vision. We
are adapted for seeing great detail in color, during daylight, in a very
restricted field of view. Outside of the fovea we have a mix of cones and
rods. Wolves lack a fovea, but have a broad central area with a very high
density of rods and a higher density of cones compared to the periphery (but
still only about 1/6 of ours). Wolves can distinguish many more shades of
gray and see much better in the dark than humans. A wolf has relatively sharp
vision across much of its visual horizon without having to shift its gaze
(Harrington and Asa 2003).
Detailed studies of the wolf’s ability to sense motion have shown that they can
detect movement with both rods and cones considerably better than we can,
especially in good light conditions. One could say wolves see the world
faster than we do (Harrington and Asa 2003).
Finally, wolves have a multi-layer membrane between the retina and the lens
called a tapetum lucidum. This membrane reflects light back through the
retina, thereby increasing sensitivity in low light conditions. It is
also responsible for the “eye shine” of wolves and dogs at night. Many
other mammals have this membrane, but not us.
Again, wolves need the ability to see prey clearly at long distances, over a
wide field of view, and in poor light. They need to discriminate many
shades of gray and detect any movement across the horizon. The eye of the
wolf has evolved over millions of years to supply these needs very well.
Bob MacPherson, PhD, retired scientist.
Citations:
Wang, X. and R. H. Tedford, Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary
History, 2008, Columbia University Press, New York.
Harrington, F. H. and C. S. Asa, Wolf Communication in Wolves: Behavior,
Ecology, and Conservation, 2003 pp 96-99, L. D. Mech and L. Boitani, eds,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London.
Jacobs, G. H. and J. Nathans, The Evolution of Primate Color Vision. Scientific
American, April 2009: 56-63.
Plonsky, M., Ph.D. Canine Vision, 1998, http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/DrP4.htm
FENCE-FLAG®
WOLF TRAINING With DC ELECTRIFIED FENCE BARRIERS
For Training Wolves, and other ground dwelling predators,
to forbid trespass of a wire or cordage barrier, DC Electric Energized, I would
recommend a single wire DC Electrified; supported by self-insulated WHITE Poly
step-in-posts (stepped in at 30 ft. to a 50 ft. maximum spacing) and approx.12
inches outside of a permanent Livestock confinement physical barrier (as Woven
Wire Livestock Fence, smooth 12 ½ ga. High Tensile or twin strand Barbed Wire
are commonly used); with the proposed Energized wire placed at about an 18 inch
height. The physical barrier wire barrier should also be attached to the Ground
Terminal of the DC Energizer to maximize shock training value, especially with
dry soil, rocks, and dry to the touch extreme frozen snow. If no permanent wire
fence barrier is to be used and this will be a stand alone barrier; I’d suggest
3 or 4 strands of wire alternating 2 DC Energized and 1or 2 Grounded to
simulate a physical barrier. In either case FENCE-FLAGS® should be attached at
about 10 ft. intervals at the 18 in. sight height (always on an Energized wire)
for slinking Wolves and Coyotes (as Wolves & Coyotes generally travel heads
down) and especially when they use caution to approach something new and not
previously recognized. Read the caution on every FENCE-FLAG® 12 count poly bag;
unplug your Energizer before installing FENCE-FLAGS® or the Stainless Steel
Slip Resistant K-CLIP®, attached per instructions will remind you, you should
have! The plastic UV stable hang tags, molded with a 90° bend, White or Black
will not conduct Electricity.
All types of wire barrier fencing should be policed regular and DC
Energized fences must be inspected for issues more frequently (invest in a good
fence volt meter) as “Murphy’s Law” is forever problematic; as vandalism by
Livestock & Humans as well as failures by tree branches, over grown weeds
and brush. The proper installation Grounding of these Energizers is imperative
for optimum performance, read the instructions! It has been our experience;
that the negative comment issues we’ve heard relating to Electric Fencing, is
caused by the installer and / or the follow-up to not properly maintain. The
only thing to touch the Energized Wire should be the clean insulator that
supports it and the connection to the Energizer!
As for the cost of FENCE-FLAG® DC Energized Wolf
Training; the below costs (approx. high end retail) represent per mile (5,280
ft.) for a new single strand VISIBLE barrier
and does not include incidentals as Ground Rods, gate hooks, tension springs,
splices etc. or the initial cost for a high mile / Joule rated Low-Impedance DC
Energizer. All are available at your choice of retailer, or our catalog
distributors listed below. If your retailer does not stock FENCE-FLAGS® ask
them to give us a call or Email price request. We will quote direct for Government and Conservation Groups with
identification.
White Braided ¼ in. Conductor Wire Poly Rope approx..660’
spools 8 X $60.00 ea. = |
$480.00 |
White Poly Step-in-Posts (30ft. spacing) = 176 X $2.50 ea.
= |
$440.00 |
FENCE-FLAGS® White or Black spaced 10ft. 12 /
bag=$5.00=.42 ea. X 528 = |
$221.76 |
Total = |
$1141.76 |
As stated these figures are high end retail
estimates. What we’re using is recommended for HIGH VISIBILITY and minimal weight for combined simplicity of
installation. 12½ ga. High Tensile smooth wire (about $125.00 per mile) can be
substituted as well as greater spacing of Poly Posts equates to fewer posts;
but, be cautious of wind whip with greater spacing.
For a cost comparison; Ms. T. DeLene Beeland within her page, with
photos, “Electrifing Deterants:Wolves and Fladry” her research concludes Turbo
Fladry costs (Electrified) at $2,303.00 initially and $2,032.00 after, per KM.
KM is Kilometers, that is 0.62 of a mile, therefor these costs equate to almost
$4,000.00 per mile. There is no notation of these figures including accessories
as posts etc. and I’ll assume the initial cost did include the Energizer.
More specific information and testimonials on
FENCE-FLAGS® can been viewed at our WWW.FENCE-FLAG.COM home site
including our “bucket drop” suggestion to pre-assemble before taking to the
field for simplicity of installation. Contact us for any additional information
thru info@FENCE-FLAG.COM
I do recommend FENCE-FLAGS® (White for superior detection in darkness
and Black alternating for over Snow) as a VISUAL
detection tool, attached Slip Resistant onto a D C Energized Fence steel wire
1/8” max. diam. or 5/16” max. diam. Braided Cordage Rope with wire conductors
interwoven; do not use poly wire and, do not attach our Stainless Steel K-CLIP®
onto Aluminum wire; as the compression for Slip Resistant attachment will
rupture the soft Aluminum and small diam. Poly Wire. The reader will note I
repeatedly emphasize DC Electric Energized.
NEVER connect a fence wire
directly to your homes, or any other AC Electric receptacle!
FENCE-FLAG®
Catalog Distributors
Name/Link:
Distributor Item Number:
Jeffers Equine
MN-F1
Valley Vet Supply
24135
Orchard Valley
Supply
fncflag
FENCE-FLAG® and K-CLIP®
are U.S. Registered Trademarks issued to
MOM & POP PRODUCTS
CO.