Odd way to cap fence posts saves birds

One unusual way to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty involves gathering cans to save birds at a conservation site in the western province of Saskatchewan. The Old Man on His Back site has about 160 km of fencing to keep bison from wandering away.

The fences are made of metal drill pipes and have a five-centimetre hole in the top. The problem is that birds tend to fall in. Sometimes they can’t get out and they die.

Fence caps expensive

The Nature Conservancy of Canada which manages the site bought and installed some fence caps but that was expensive. So, two employees came up with the idea of using used food cans instead.“We looked at each other and thought ‘well what’s plentiful, what’s in abundance and what’ll fit,’” said Dale Gross, a natural areas manager with the conservancy.

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Gross and a colleague went to a nearby recycling plant and collected enough cans to cap 300 fence posts covering about 1.6 km. It was a simple matter of turning the cans upside down and hammering them down. Simple but time-consuming.

Over 5,000 more cans needed

So far fences on almost five kilometers have been capped and there are another 155km to go. So, Gross is canvassing for more cans and is happy that there are many volunteers interested in installing them.

“It doesn’t have to happen overnight. It could happen over a couple of years…We can do this.”