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  • From: "Paul A. Bock" <bockpa AT plesh.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] DEER FENCING
  • Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 10:20:21 -0400


>One of the nearby market farms relies on an 8' foot deer fence,
>and that is what I'm hoping to avoid.

Though I am not growing any crops right now, the deer come to within say 50
feet of barking dogs in an alfalfa field behind my house. Some night I
should let the collie go after them. He is one fast runner. I'll leave the
German shepherd mix stay tied up. He barks a lot but isn't as strong a
runner. When he has come up on deer in the woods he runs fast, but not
after the deer, fast as he can to hide behind momma and daddy. I know the
collie won't catch up to the deer, at worst maybe he will nip at their
heels. He likes to herd, especially groups of small children. Should scare
the daylights out of those deer though.

Anyway, talking about deer fence, I have heard that an alternative to a tall
fence, is a double fence. Something like 30-36" spacing between the two
fences. Makes them afraid of where they might land. I have also heard of a
double fence using only three wires. Something where on the outside row of
fence posts you hang a wire about a foot off the ground and another about
three or four feet up. Then on the inside row of fence posts you hang one
wire about half way up between the other two. Something about the spatial
positioning of the wires confuses them. However, we live close to grape
country and bucks with full racks can run faster across the rows faster than
you could run down the rows. A grape fence has two wires on about 2-3' off
the ground and another about 5-6' off the ground. A few nursery farms,
fallow deer farms, elk and bison farms around here use woven wire or welded
wire 8' tall. The height probably helps in the winter when the snow is deep.
I have heard about cattle walking right over fences in the winter.

Paul Bock

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