I'm in southwestern British Columbia and the area we live in has LOTS of deer and some bears in the fall. Anyone have a suggestion as to the best type of fencing to use to deter them.
We were thinking about electric fencing, but have concerns about that because of the young children at our house and the neighbors - there's no fence between our place and theirs and their daughter comes over quite often.
Thanks in advance
Brenda
Are the girls too young to educate about the electric fence? My daughter used that to keep her dogs in, and their young boys didn't have a problem with it after they were told what will happen and shown how it works.
There are different kinds of electric fence. You might find one that is too tall for the kids to reach, but a deer would get zapped when it lays its neck across the top to look in.
We have a 3 wire electric fence to keep the deer out. It is on a timer. Comes on at sunset and goes off at dawn.
We'd have to keep it on 24/7 heree. The deer are around all the time!
Brenda
I'm thinking now about using 4 - 5 foot wire fencing along the bottom, then a few rounds of electric fencing above that.
Brenda
I have no experience with bears, but after a contact by one individual with an electrified wire, the whole deer herd learns to stay away for a very long time (years). They are a herd after all, and if they see one of their own very scared and in full flight they get scared as well. And, mind you, they are in my backyard every single day, they just know enough to leave the vegetable garden alone. I keep my wire off 99% of the time, and if I see signs of entry one week on is enough to restore order. Same with squirrels.
You could have a 4 feet tall chainlink with one strand of wire on top (six inches above or so), and a small gate unwired to let the neighbor daughter come and go. The deer will probably touch the wire with their noses as they explore this new thing. Explain the arrangement to the girls and their parents and you will have little trouble.
I would be afraid the deer might just jump over the fence and never notice the electric wire. Deer in many areas are used to fences and just jump over. I've had both deer and bear get into my garden but I'm in town where it doesn't happen often enough to justify a fence. One solution might be to use a fence tall enough to keep out the deer and one strand of electric fence wire at (maybe) 5 feet high. The bear might reach up to test the strength of the fence and get shocked. Kind of expensive so I would actually try just the electric fence first. High enough to be out of reach of any child too young to understand.
Steve
We just had netting around ours at a height of about 5 feet last year and the deer avoided jumping over - maybe because my garden is in raised boxes??? Anyway, that worked well until September rolled around and the bears were out in search of food! It tore a hole in one side of the garden netting, walked right through and tore a hole in the opposite side to get out. Now the deer just freely walk right through both of the holes. Good thing nothing other than garlic is growing now.
Brenda
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