We have a garden with an electricfied fence that has four strands of wire up to four feet. Recently we visited a neighor who has a garden like ours but only has a deer fence that is 8" inches high. They indicate at this hiegh it will stop rabbits and deer. Does this make sense? I have seen deer jump our fence so don't know if height is really an issue?
Jerry
It might stop somebody from dragging a dead deer through your garden.
Sounds like your neighbor is pulling your leg.LOL Eight inches wouldn't even keep a rabbit out. I put up an electric fence to keep my dogs away from the pet bunnies cage. One of them just jumps over it. I bet a deer would jump your fence also. Once they are no longer in contact with the ground it won't shock them. After they are inside the fence they may get shocked moving around through your garden by accident. I have had deer jump over my four foot regular chain link and also have heard they can jump a six foot tall fence.
I had a four foot rabbit fence around my garden. One time I found a rabbit inside the fence, so I opened the gate and tried to herd the rabbit in that direction. The rabbit took one look at me and hopped over the fence without apparent effort. So much for rabbit fences.
Rabbits like broadleaf plants. Plant clover in your lawn and the rabbits will be satisfied with that.
W> Sounds like your neighbor is pulling your leg.LOL
jerry wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Yes, miniature deer. :oP
Recently Brookside Gardens in Maryland spent an astronimical amount of money (millions of dollars) to build an 8-9' tall un-electrified deer fence around the entire property. "Although an eight foot tall fence was erected around the park to protect the horticultural plantings, the deer brazenly walked through the driveway entrance gate in broad daylight. A cattle-guard was added at the gate to reduce the infiltration. Being surrounded by trees, which occasionally drop branches which breech the fence, the fence is still inadequate to protect the plantings. (The deer have also mastered the cattle guard.) As of January 20, 1999, Brookside was attempting to negotiate the political hurdles of selectively shooting their pest deer."
Last week, I watched a small-ish deer hop over a 4' fence at a local park. Not jump - just sort of hop, with little or no effort. I'd say 6-8' is more like it.
The problem all of you people are having with your deer fencing is that you don't understand the "deer jump". They can make a high jump OR a wide jump but not BOTH at the same time. They also won't jump into something they can't get enough of a run to jump out of. I had huge vegetable and fruit gardens in Idaho and Montana without any deer damage and used a 4 foot fence, the second 4 foot fence ran 3 feet away around the outside. I used metal fencing posts and chicken wire. This is an inexpensive and very effective solution that has been used for years and it surprises me more people don't know about it.
I just did a little Google search and found a Montana site that will give you options to effective fencing, also one from the PNW area.
Yeah, that's about it, too.
If one deer touches the live wires, the whole group will instinctively avoid the area. Another thing that helps is to leave around pieces of chicken wire or chainlink fence. Just laying in the grass around your garden. Deer hate to feel something sticking to their legs. I move the four pieces I have only when it is time to mow.
The trick is making the fence hard to see, deer don't like bumping into something they can't see. I have two strands of electric, one at 4" and one at 4' and it keeps the deer out, other than the occasional fawn that stumbles into it. I've seen people use the same idea except they use fishing line that is almost invisible. Your neighbor is probably telling the truth.
Here in Colorado, deer on the highways have always been a concern and are becoming increasingly moreso (due in part to our high growth rate and people crowding them out of their natural habitat). The highway department has fenced many miles of road with 6-foot high dog-wire style fencing, which deters most of them, that is, if someone doesn't leave a gate open somewhere! Also, there are these nifty one-way exit gates that allow animals to get out of the highway right-of-way, should they accidentally enter it. I would think that a 6' ft. fence around a garden would offer adequate protection, aesthetics aside.
The message from "Gary" contains these words:
The north end of this island is a deer forest (misleading term..no forest, just rocky steep hillsides grazed to the bone). The deer are red deer (like your wapiti iirc), pretty big, (stags are taller than me) and very bold so every garden is surrounded by a hideous 6 or 7ft fence and gates :-(. From inside those homes you look out at the world as if through a prison fence, horrible. The deer are always plotting to get inside gardens for food so its tough up there for gardeners.
Deer aren't fenced off the single narrow winding road and are a serious danger at night,,you crawl along there in pitch dark trying to spot the gleam of eyes in case a herd is about to jump across the road in front of the vehicle. There's a big deer fence across most of the island so we get very few at our end and don't need fencing.
Janet (Isle of Arran Scotland)
My father found 6ft fence too low on Saltspring Island, BC. The deer jumped right over it. He eventually built an 8ft fence.
A deer fence that simply creates a barrier should be between 5' for a garden area, up to 14' for a game farm. On a more hopeful note, an electric fence -- if one is allowed where you live -- is your best bet. It probably should be about the height of the deer's chest and baited. I've heard of peanut butter being used, but I suppose anything they like will work. Once the deer has been stung by the fence, it won't come near it again. You can disconnect the electricity once you think all the deer in your area have "learned their lesson" as they won't come near it again.
Good luck!
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