SNARES That Care

Long ago homo sapiens being the ingenious species they are, invented some pretty amazing, life-changing contraptions. The wheel, the nail, gunpowder, bubbles in beer, trapping magazines and in 1867 barb wire, the ultimate cow stopper. Having personally lived a life filled with a few mean cows, I feel the creation of barbwire is one of my favorites.

I have built miles of five-strand barbwire T-post fencing, taught to me by an old Nevada fence master himself. I tip my hat to Lucien Smith, the first person to patent barbed wire, or basically the man who harnessed cows. Barbed wire single-handedly ended most long-range cattle drives, yet opened the door for a wide variety of other types of woven wire fencing.

Then about the time the cowboys had the whole barbwire and cow thing figured out, along came domestic sheep. The smaller domesticated sheep required a more specialized fencing, capable enough to withstand ewes and lambs from ranging free. Woven fence usually with open areas no bigger than a human hand seemed the perfect fit. This new “sheep fence” appeared to be the perfect marriage for keeping sheep contained. Fencing also proved somewhat effective at keeping coyotes and sheep separated, until the novelty wore off and coyotes being the masterful predators they are, simply learned to crawl under, over and sometimes through fencing.

Every halfway sane sheep producer