The Fence Post

The lengths to which a sheep farmer will go...

Australian farmers will go a long way to keep dingoes out of their paddocks. Extending over three thousand miles, the world's longest fence is being repaired: 

For more on the great Down Under, check out our blog about Emu Fences.

The Right Tools 

The wonderful folks from Bekaert step in to help renew an extensive field fence with high tensile woven wire and barbed wire. A classic demonstration using a gripple, a stretcher bar, and a new-fangled staple gun.

Bucks Using Trees

During the rut, between late September through November, a buck is after a doe. He advertises his desire by rubbing the summer-grown velvet off his antlers, thereby leaving his scent and establishing his territory, communicating his dominance over rivals with the hope that a doe will take notice. A buck will also rub the glands of his face and underside onto trees and branches. Not only do the bucks rub the trees, but they hit the trees noisily to announce their presence. Trees take another hit as rubbing occurs in late winter as the bucks seek to shed their antlers. Little do they know that you cared about that tree.

Damage Done

The ravages to a tree from a rutting buck will start at about a foot off the ground up to 5 feet generally and a considerable amount of destruction can happen within the first 24 hours of this assault. Girdling, rubbing the bark layer off around the circumference of the tree will ultimately kill the tree, whereas patches of rubbed-off bark will stress the tree. The tree will then set out to heal itself and will be weakened or possibly die on the side or sides of the tree that have been roughed up. Externally the tree will show a scar. Another type of damage occurs in winter when deer can be literally starving and will eat the lower parts of a tree, including its bark. This damage can vary from year to year depending on the length and severity of the winter. For a buck, nutrition is key to the growth of antlers, a sign to females of his strength and suitability for breeding. Once deer become established in an area, they'll return and it can be very difficult to rid them from your land.

Which trees are targeted?

Regrettably, a buck is just as likely to damage a young, vulnerable tree as he is a mature tree and its branches. A young tree is particularly threatened if the sapwood is exposed over the winter. As far as varieties go, there does seem to be a preference for fragrant species such as pine, elm, spruce, sassafras, and cedar. Other common saplings to protect (up to 5 inches in diameter) are birches, maples, lindens, and magnolias. Upon realization that your trees and plants have become a victim of deer damage, immediate action is required. 

Countering the Attack 

An excellent method of protection is to create cages for trees, particularly young trees.  Use 4 T posts and 5-foot tall heavy fencing to surround a tree (at least 5 feet in diameter), secured with Zip-ties. Galvanized or Vinyl coated wire fencing is tough and long-lasting: our 14 gauge mesh with 2" x 2" openings, and particularly our mesh with 2" x 4" openings would be excellent choices (and this size mesh would keep beavers out as well.) Remember that black vinyl-coated wire blends better into the environment than green. Sturdy fence wire is important--lightweight chicken wire could collapse onto the tree and damage the bark. Wrapping a tree with burlap or specially made papers for trees do not provide enough protection from a rutting buck. Deer repellents just don't do the job that good fence wire will do in protecting a growing tree.

Here's a quick overview of the concept:

These cages are to guard a small number of trees. To protect an orchard or a large number of trees, you are in need of a deer and wildlife fence. Fencing out rabbits and various rodents, who eat the bark off the base of your tree can be controlled by a mesh with smaller openings. Louis Page has all kinds of blogs about fencing out deer. Just do a search on our main page for a wide variety of possibilities and the aspects you are interested in or are struggling with.  

How does the tree actually suffer?

The bark on the outside of a tree can be thought of as the first line of its defense. Here is the tree's outer edge of protection from whatever elements are affecting it. Keeping moisture out, bark guards the tree against inundation but it also helps to retain moisture in periods of low precipitation or drought. Just inside this outer bark is the inner bark, a layer that manages infestations, diseases, burrowing insects, and guards the tree against cold weather as well. Just underneath this is a very crucial thin layer in which nutrients are passed through the tree. The inner cambium layer (xylem) passes nutrients and water up from the roots; the outer cambium layer (phloem) brings food through photosynthesis from the leaves down the tree, distributing sugars that aid growth and the creation of bark. Excess phloem makes the bark; the old xylem tissue makes the wood of the tree.

Here are some more videos with varying approaches to creating these cages:

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Deterring Unwanted Garden Visitors

At Louis Page, we love tips that guard the time and effort we put into our gardens. 

And! If you've got some leftover mesh hanging around, don't toss it! Here's a blog with ideas on how to use it.

Hardware cloth: small welded wire mesh that can be used for a variety of projects at your place of business and at home. Find it in galvanized after weld or a very long-lasting vinyl-coated finish. Stainless steel hardware cloth is even tougher and also available.

Stopping Deer

Avoiding damage to your property from deer is best accomplished with a sturdy, well-maintained fence. There are some unique solutions to repelling deer using fencing and we begin with the fact that black is very difficult for deer to see. A deer will not risk jumping over a fence that uses black Bezinal-coated zinc-aluminum finish on the wire; it makes it very hard for them to discern the boundaries of the fence. In a single bound, deer can clear about 8 feet. The height and diameter of the black-coated wire of a 7-foot fence will cause enough confusion to send them rummaging for food elsewhere. A deer's capacity for flight is prodigious, and gauging risk to its limbs is an innate skill. An injury to a leg means becoming fodder to predators. For your part, the preparation and maintenance of a deer fence must include various factors:

• Make sure that the fence is tight to the ground to prevent the deer from crawling under the fence
• Vines that will inevitably grow on it should be cleared--the vines will eventually add definition to the fence which will aid the deer in clearing it 
• Keeping the fence in good repair is key as deer are quick to find where the fence has been damaged
• Gates mean access and must be kept closed especially before dusk

Twilight and Superior Night Vision

• Comparing the eyes and pupils of deer to humans, a deer's are larger on both counts
• The light-gathering capacity works out to be about nine times that of human vision
• The receptors of light in the back of a deer's eye (rods and cones) are accompanied by a reflective layer which to us appear to shine at night
• These receptors, the rods, cones, and the light which interact to create a deer's ability to have superior night vision means that it is at final count 18 times better than human eyesight at night (for our part, the capacity for detail during the day is superior to a deer's)  

Hence, a deer's most effective vision comes in low light. So, as our vision towards evening starts to dim, a deer's vision is just getting going. The shape of a deer's eye is more oval, maximizing objects on the horizon where danger may lurk, rather than from above (here's a reason why hunters that are elevated above the deer's primary source of reference have an advantage.) For a deer, the light from above can distract and this is why the black 7-foot fence is enough for them to avoid the risk of not clearing it--what's above them is simply not a usual source of threat from predators. 

The Mesh You Need

You'll find that black vinyl-coated hexagonal deer fence lasts a long, long time. The 20-gauge galvanized wire is woven into a 1" hex mesh, galvanized, and then coated with a tough, flexible, thick coating of black PVC tightly bonded to the wire. The resulting vinyl-coated deer fence is very corrosion resistant. It is also extremely resistant to cracking, chipping, and weathering and the inhibitors in the vinyl protect it from UV degradation. Another benefit of the black coating is how it makes the mesh blend in with the landscape. Call Louis Page (866) 328-5018 if you have more questions. 

Although the initial outlay may seem expensive, the most cost-effective plan to guard your outdoor investments is a deer fence and when considered over time, it becomes very cost-effective.