Wire Mesh Fence

Keep Deer out With a Double wire Fence

Keeping deer out of the garden is a challenge anywhere that deer live and people have gardens. Fencing is one solution. Deer can leap eight feet into the air at a minimum; some say deer have jumped their 10- and 12-foot fences. Fences slanted 30 degrees toward the garden are effective because the deer must jump over and across the fence. An easier-to-build solution along the same lines is a double, or offset, fence --- two electrified four-foot fences placed three feet apart. Deer cannot simultaneously perform a high jump and a long jump, and they are wary of getting caught in small spaces.

1 Check your local building code to find any restrictions on building fences in your area. Be sure to do this before you start building the fence. Modifying a design is much easier than reinstalling a fence.

2 Install 5-1/2-foot-tall treated-wood, fiberglass or steel fence posts set in concrete at the corners of your garden. The posts should be set about 1-1/2 feet into the ground. These will support the inner fence.

3 Drive 5-foot-tall steel fencing stakes about 1 foot into the ground using a sledgehammer. Place the metal stakes about 4 feet apart between the fence posts.

4 Install two insulators on each of the steel stakes (and the posts, if you used steel rather than wood). Place one about 15 inches from the ground and one about 45 inches from the ground. The insulators keep the wire away from the metal supports, so the fence will not short out.

5 String 12-1/2-gauge high-tensile wire around the outside of the posts level with the lower insulators on the steel stakes. Apply light tension. Attach the wire to the bottom insulators on the steel stakes. Stretch the wire to make it taught, using 150 to 250 pounds of tension. Repeat this step to install the upper wire.

6 Build the outer fence in the same way about 3 feet outside the inner fence. Attach all the wires to the positive (+) post of a low-impedance fence charger. It is imperative that you use a high-quality UL-approved fence charger.

7 Clear a space 6-feet wide outside the outer fence so the deer can see it. Check the fence once a week to make sure it is intact and working properly.