Deer Fence Installation Problems and Fence PenetrationMany or even most deer fence failures happen because the fence was not properly installed (see Installation). People (including many landscapers and other semi-professional deer fence installers) tend to be so concerned about getting the fence high (which is usually not essential) that they neglect its bottom. The first instinct of browsing deer is to poke about the bottom of the fence. If the bottom just brushes the ground, even if it is pegged down, the deer will nose under it and eventually work themselves underneath and through. This means that a deer fence set up this way is really vulnerable. To make it secure at the time of installation one needs to sacrifice 6 inches of height and to leave enough material at the bottom to create a “flap” of fence lying outward on the ground–toward the direction from which the deer will come. This flap is then pegged down securely every 6 feet or so to create an effective barrier (see Deer Fence Installation: Securing the Deer Fence Bottom). What if you already have a fence in place and cannot easily lower it 6 inches? One answer is to get a strip of metal hexagrid fencing (see Products: Metal Hexagrid Deer Fence: items 14-8 thru 14-10), which comes in strips 2, 3, and 4 feet wide, and position it along the bottom of the existing fence so that a metal mesh flap extends outward (toward the deer) a distance of 6 inches on the ground. If properly secured to the main fence and pegged down (see Installation: Securing the Deer Fence Bottom) this will end penetration of the fence from the bottom. |
McGregor Fence Co. 508-888-8305