The sun., 1909-02-28

inch spgbe between the woven wire and
the flrstbarbed wire.
| Appekently he pushed the woven wire
inward and the berbed wire upward with
his powerful 1arm" until the space was
large enough for his heed and shoulders.
Then he forced his tough, woolly body
through. The wires were relaxed 90 that
the ak inch space was spread TO eighteen
inches after he worked his way through
In going out he made his attack in thu
same way, except that he was shrewd
enough TO choose C space whore the tim
Der brace extended from post to post
giving him step upward.
A large grizzly bear that came In
afterward made mis- first entrance as Jus,
described but each time aftcrwnrd ho
passed through the eight inch space be-
tween the two top barbed wires.
The Ave unsuccessful attempts made
by black and hrnwn bears to get through
the fence the report attributes TO sus-
picion and lack Of persistence on the part
Of these bears. sin one case large
fellow made space OF twenty inches
between the mesh-wire and the barbed
wire above sSd yet turned back" IL
Is the opinion Of the report that these
bears will take more time in their efforts
after their suspicious wear away.
This test fence was constructed in 1907,
and the period of it's test was for only
portion Of the pasturing, season. Ths
report sums up its conclusions as TO the
experiment thus only partially made
that the fence proved successful as
protection against coyotes during this
test, but recognizes the resourcefulness
of that cunning beast by remarking that
whether IL will be as effective after they
become thoroughly. accustomed TO It
remains to be proved.
The fence is held to be not successful
doubtfuly successful against black and
brown bears. still problematical against
cats and not successful against badgers.
It is believed, however, that the fence
will be made successful against those
animals by changes in its construction.
IL the fence proves TO be coyote proof,
therefore. the practicabuity and value
Of such enclosures are regarded as Ger.
tain, for the brief test Of it on the conduct
of unherded sheep as tending to the
preservation Of forage area and thus In
creasing the carrying capacity Of the
range was entirely satisfactory.
According TO the report the sheep
retained more or less the natural instinct
to mass. but from the first dav the ten
dency TO open, scattered grazing, with
little or no trailing, increased. AT first
they responded to every noise as though
il were herder's signal. Later the
main band was not so ready to follow one
frightened member.
The feeling of suspicion and alarm
gradually diminished, and only very
seldom were they found grazing in a
close herd The result was that the
pastured area. though grazed close was
comparatively free from the worn paths
common on close grazed ranges.
1t was apparent that when entirely
protected from destructive wild animals
a band Of sheep will separate into bunches
and will Craze much more openly and do
much less trailing than when they are
herded: that they may travel as far or
further in one day than when herded.
but the movement is much less injurious
10 the forage crop, because they pass
over an area only once and are thoa
scattered 30 that only one animal strikes
n plant whereas when herded they NAV
pass backward and forward over an
area many times. and perhaps as many
as fifty sheep may strike one plant; that
their natural tendency is TO bed at night
in bands. but in smaller bands than when
herded that they much prefer bed
ground that has often been used to an
entirely new ground.