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TonyDralle
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 1158
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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Thanks to all who made suggestions about my 15' planter.
Now I have another question, concerning deer in my yard. I haven't seen a lot of discussion of this topic in this forum.
Through the years, I've tried various deterrents, including Liquid Fence (works pretty well, most of the time) and the gadget with a motion sensor that fires a burst of water (works well also, until the deer get used to it). There seems to be no perfect deterrent. Meanwhile, my number of rose bushes has declined from 24 to 3.
So I'm finally thinking of building a fence. I've tried the mesh deer fencing, but it's difficult to handle -- snags on everything. And a deer walked through it one night on his/her way to dinner, pulling down the posts it was attached to.
It's impractical to fence in my entire yard, so I was thinking of a small area, maybe 6' by 20', where I could at least have my roses and a few tomatoes. The choices are either chain link (lets the light through, but allows the deer to see what's inside) or a solid wooden "stockade," consisting of wooden columns or boards (blocks the view to the deer, but also doesn't allow me to see the flowers from outside). The other issue is how high it should be. I've heard that sufficiently motivated deer can jump over even an 8' fence, but would they jump into a confined area like I'm planning?
Any suggestions? How have others dealt with this problem?
- Tony
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- TonyD
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eddie kirkland
sage
Reged: 08/12/04
Posts: 473
Loc: Alabama
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I've found that Liquid Fence works well for me as long as I apply it every 30-60 days; but I always procrastinate until I see nibbling signs. You might also look into electic fencing; especially the tape looking stuff, put peanut butter on it and once they try that, they won't be back. Cruel but effective.
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Eddie Kirkland
Auburn, AL
16" f/4.5 Midnightelescope truss dob
10" f/6 Astrosky truss dob
Stellarvue/TMB 105
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Erix
Toad Lily
Reged: 12/25/04
Posts: 24022
Loc: Texas, USA
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The problem with electric fence is that they'll just jump right over it. They were always in the pasture fields with our electric fence on.
Now if you've got a badger or groundhog problem, the electric fence about 6 inches off the ground works wonders as long as you make sure they are on the outside of the perimeter before you put it up. 
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Erika
Automatic doors make me feel like a Jedi. 
Zhumell 16", 10" LX200 Classic,Celestron 102 XLT, ETX70-AT, DS Maxscope 60mm, AT6RC
PCW Memorial Observatory
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TonyDralle
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 1158
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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I have finally decided to build a fence around my yard. It will probably be of the "shadow box" style, where the vertical boards are staggered, so that it appears the same from either side. I'm currently taking bids from local fence contractors.
I had thought it would need to be 8 feet high. But I toured my nearby community and talked with homeowners with fence-enclosed yards. Everyone with a 6' fence said they have not had deer come over their fences -- apparently, the deer just change their routes and don't bother jumping even 6'. (There's plenty of food nearby in other yards!)
Now one of the fencing contractors has mentioned mesh deer fencing, which he says is effective and nearly invisible. It would be considerably less expensive.
Has anyone had experience with using fences to keep deer out?
Thanks,
- Tony
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- TonyD
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Erix
Toad Lily
Reged: 12/25/04
Posts: 24022
Loc: Texas, USA
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Tony, I have a client that uses a thin metal hard wire that is maybe 4mm in diameter around, two foot across and three feet high. It is "U" shaped and the two open ends go into the ground. They have several placed around their yard to keep the deer out of the flower beds and it does help. I would use something like this before I would use a mesh. But I've got a thin against anything that could rip and have the deer get hurt or stuck in. The idea behind the metal rod thing is that because it's detectable but not easy to see, the deer are scared of it.
I have been using Liquid Fence now for almost a month and it's been working great. I've used twice and will use it one more time (was going to use it today but the storms came in) before I drop down to using it only once a month. The deer have left the cemetery planting completely alone that I did whereas before they devoured it to a point that I had to redo the whole thing.
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Erika
Automatic doors make me feel like a Jedi.
Zhumell 16", 10" LX200 Classic,Celestron 102 XLT, ETX70-AT, DS Maxscope 60mm, AT6RC
PCW Memorial Observatory
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David Castillo
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/09/06
Posts: 1398
Loc: Carmel Valley, Ca
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I have a 4' fence with a rope 2' above it that is set back a foot, along it's entire length. I guess the deer are bad on depth perception, because I haven't seen one in my yard since I put this up. My neighbors are picking up on this with equal success. Just remember to off set the rope, and don't leave too big a gap between the fence and the rope.
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Dave
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TonyDralle
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/17/06
Posts: 1158
Loc: Bethel Park, PA
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Another assault by deer last night, wiping out all rose buds (probably for this year), is forcing my hand on a fence. (I had just used Liquid Fence about four days ago, so I have written that off as a deterent.)
I'm told by others in my community (in western PA) that a 6' stockage fence, which the deer cannot see through, keeps them out. Although they could jump over it, it seems they don't, since they don't see what's on the other side. (Could they remember meals in my yard in the past?) A 6' chain link fence seems NOT to work, apparently because they can see a meal on the other side.
I'm inclined toward the stockade fence as I think a wooden fence is more attractive around my whole yard than chain link.
I suppose if I build the 6' fence, and it does not work, I could add the rope 2' higher, in accordance with David's scheme.
Has anyone had experience with wooden stockade fencing, and deer?
- Tony
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- TonyD
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