Rusty Wire Comes Alive

Rusty Wire Comes Alive AG WORLD 30-2-21 Old barbed wire never looked so good as it does when Don Berry gets done with it. The Wyoming rancher has turned miles of it into full-size sculptures of American bison and a family of bears. "I used to do smaller stuff, but when our state centennial came along, I thought it would be fun to do a buffalo out of barbed wire since the buffalo is on our state flag," says Berry. "Ours is a homestead ranch, and barbed wire sort of represents the old West." Berry's first barbed wire buffalo was realistic enough that it earned a place of honor on display at the state museum for six months. It then toured other museums around the state for a year. Eventually it ended up on display at the Wyoming Farm Bureau complex in Laramie, Wyo., along with a second buffalo. Berry did a third buffalo that he keeps on display at his home ranch along with two bears and a cub. The bison together used approximately 7.6 miles of wire and averaged about 400 hours each to make over three winters. "I used everything from around the ranch to make the first one," recalls Berry. "The eyes were insulators from telephone wires, the hooves were chunks of old pipe and the horns were pieces of an old manure spreader axle. On the second two buffalo, I used old split trailer hitch balls for eyes. The bolt looks like the pupil of the eye." Although he had no formal training in art, Berry did have a mentor. One of his brother-in-laws told him about his grandfather "Buffalo Joe" Curry making a buffalo out of barbed wire. Berry went to visit Curry, a retired blacksmith from Big Springs, Neb. and got some tips from him. Among other things, he learned that the wire couldn't be too brittle or too old. He also found that if he knocked the rust off, it left lighter color rust, ideal for the manes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Berry, 2346 Torrington Rd., Cheyenne, Wyo. 82009 (ph 307 635-7597; berryranch @netzero.net).

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