Our yard is clearley getting ready for spring. Onions are coming up
like crazy, the blackberries are pushing shoots and the blueberries
are flowering. The deer found my my blackberries this winter. I don't
want them wiping the beds out. The beds are about 32' X 120'...and
there is also my 40' x 40' garden that they wiped out last year.

Soooo....I got an electric fence. It goes around the perimeter and I
have put my 12 v solar chargers on a mower battery to give it power.
The sad part is that I have to help the deer learn to avoid it BEFORE
the tempting garden gets under way. That gets done by hanging tin
foil strips on the fence with peanut butter on them. The deer lick
them and close the circuit to the ground. They are not hurt, but they
are very startled! They go about 5' up and 5' out. After one or two
encounters, they stay clear. Bucks have to learn for themselves. The
doe learn from the experience of others in the doe group. Today I
moved the railroad ties out further from the edge of the beds and
pegged them down with 3/8" rebar. Next week, the fence.

Jim

Be careful what you wish for. We are in danger of being surrounded,
here in the PNW, like Sleeping Beauty's castle, by
Rubus armeniacus (syn. R. procerus, 'Himalaya') blackberry.

Does it surprise anyone that the males have to learn the hard
way?? ;-)
I watched my son's group of friends, when they were 13, spend a good
day
daring each other to run up and grab the electric fence we put up to
keep
the dogs from digging at the edge of the pond.

k :-)

kathy wrote:

Does it surprise anyone that the males have to learn the hard
way?? ;-)
I watched my son's group of friends, when they were 13, spend a good
day
daring each other to run up and grab the electric fence

Mam, as a male, that is not learning, that is proving your manhood, a
BIG difference. Many societies past and present REQUIRED their young
males to prove they were men before being allowed to hunt or sit in
counsel. Present day American societies leave very few ways left so we
men grab for every opportunity.

I would have been shocked and saddened if your son and his 13 yo friends
did not do this.

Chip

Oh, no need to worry about this group of boys.
They also played 'sneak up on the earth moving machines' that
were working in field next to us.
I banned 'can you skate board behind a moving car'.
I dressed wounds from 'can you juggle axes' (not really well).

And that was just the stuff I knew about....

They were much safer after they turned their energies
into becoming the next big punk rock band (and even
wore the ear plugs I bought them) though I think our
house settled about five inches from the resulting musical mayhem.
k :-)

"Phyllis and Jim" wrote in message
...
Our yard is clearley getting ready for spring. Onions are coming up
like crazy, the blackberries are pushing shoots and the blueberries
are flowering. The deer found my my blackberries this winter. I don't
want them wiping the beds out. The beds are about 32' X 120'...and
there is also my 40' x 40' garden that they wiped out last year.

We just tilled both our vegetable gardens last Wednesday. So far the deer
haven't been a problem but the rabbits are. We have to fence the one garden
were we grown beans and greens or we would harvest nothing. The other garden
they don't bother. It's tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash.

The electric fence should work but make it high enough that they don't get
tempted to jump it.

(brevity snips)
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

The electric fence should work but make it high enough that they don't get
tempted to jump it.

Can't make it that high! The general recommendation around here is to
electrify early enough that they are not in the habit of eating in the
garden (goodies not yet grown). They learn to avoid the fence and
don't hit the plants when they come up. We shall see!

They have no problem jumping a 5' fence and can do 6'. I hate to do
that much electrification.

Jim

They have no problem jumping a 5' fence and can do 6'. I hate to do
that much electrification.

Jim

And it isn't necessary. This is the latest gadget out:
http://www.deerbusters.com/dee-3060.html

My sister got 6 of these when the deer started coming down from the hills
due to heavy snow. Her neighbor's yard was strip clean to the level the
deer could reach, they obviously learned to stay away from my sister's and
have no clue to the extent (or lack of) this post can do damage. I think
you peanut butter on foil is an excellent alternative!

Technology so we can co-exist.... speaking of, I put my motion sprinklers
back on last night, even though I haven't removed the screens. The boys saw
a raccoon come thru the other night, and bigger areas were getting dug up
around the ponds (rather than the small holes made by skunks). I may be
thinking hot wire for winter time myself. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us