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Suggestions for a Deer Fence?

Hobbes_in_Dobbs

15 years ago

Hi all,

I'm finally giving up on trying to deter the deer. It's time to put up a fence. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reputable fence company that can put up an economical deer fence in Westchester County?

Thanks so much!

Chundo

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Comments (6)

tomb700
15 years ago
I'm in Orange County where the deer are voracious and plentiful.
If you are not able to do it yourself, you probably should contact a local handyman/handywoman and get some estimates to compare to a fence company.
The ground will be frozen soon and pounding in posts will be a problem.
I got all supplies from Home Depot but other hardware stores have the same thing. What I did was use green fence poles pounded-in (4 ft. high about $3 each), then plastic tied 8 foot by 1 inch wood poles ($1 each) for height. Then I attached black plastic deer fence ($30 for 100 feet roll) with plastic ties. I spray painted the poles flat black with cheap spray paint so it blends in well. The mesh fence is virtually invisible.
Last year I used burlap around shrubs and the deer ate through the hemp binder twine and ripped off the burlap and cleaned off the shrubs. Instead of burlap this year I used chicken wire wrapped around the shrub.

Here is a link that might be useful: deer fence
nycynthias
15 years ago
In answer to the original question, my landscape architect, who I LOVE and ADORE and does the most amazing work, does deer fencing. We're putting permanent deer fencing on about an acre now--8' high wire mesh with rough cedar posts. Reasonably priced for what we're getting, and I trust his crews to work clean and quick. His name is Joe Weuste, Summerset Design, 845-590-7306. Right now, his main crew is working in Chappaqua at my house, but if you are nearby it might be convenient for them to pop over and put up your deer fence.
You might also try Campanella Fence, who I bet does it too.
Like tomb700 said, it may be getting a bit late to put it in easily, but it's worth a call or two.
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I know the original poster is not going to use electric fence. But since it came up, I will chime in. If you use electric fence, my advice is to make sure it is always hot. Once the animals learn that it is not always hot, they have incentive to find ways to test it. For example, they might push other animals into the fence (pigs do this), or sniff it (I don't think it is smell, but if you are at the right distance from the fence, you can feel a weak zap that is not painful). Etc. Or they may associate the sound with the fence being hot. I don't think the wire makes noise, but the fence energizer does. And if there is any brush in contact with the hot wire, then there will usually be an audible arcing sound where the fence arcs to the brush. Also, it pays to use a very strong energizer. This ups the ante on experimentation. I have goats, and when I was using a weak energizer, they eventually decided that getting shocked once or twice while they jumped over or walked under the fence wasn't really that bad. When I got a stronger energizer, they started staying inside again. --McKenzie
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You can buy 6 1/2 ft non-climb (fixed knot) deer fencing. That is about as cheap as you can get to keep the deer out. Pound-in metal posts to hold it up, but you will need pressure treated wooden posts at the corners. You can mickey mouse stuff together and spend the money for that and still end up buying a real fence. Might as well pay for the fence and save the money you would have spent on the rest of it. Unless deer can see something really clearly, they will crash into it. If they crash into deer netting, they will pull it down. I've had them crash into non-climb wire, and that's pretty obvious to see. I do have a neighbor who props up old limbs and strings many strands of knitting yard loosely all around her veggie garden. Then she ties flags on the yarn. She says that the motion of the yarn as it sways in the breeze scares the deer so that they won't jump it. It sure looks ugly. She's out multiple times every day, blowing an air horn and running at the deer to chase them away, so I'm not sure how well the yarn is working for her. You an also get 6 ft tall kennel wire with 2X2 squares in it. That'll keep the deer and the bunnies out. Trouble is, it is about $125 for a 100 foot roll.
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My project is to protect a vegetable garden from deer and rabbits. A couple of years ago I did this combination of light weight netting and some electric wires. it didn'[t work that well as it was only 7', patched together and often I forgot to keep it turned on.. This year I've had another enthusiasm so have tried a fence used by a co-worker. His consists of three low wires, electirifed, 6" apart. Has a big vegetable garden (10 children so as he put it he can't share produce with crritters). So i did almost the same except having most of the posts from the old fence I added a fourth wire nose high. It worked at first but this morning they got to my wife's sun flowers and a bit of the green beans. I was really annoyed as I put a lot of time into that fence. Well turns out the fence was all but dead. You could touch it and nothing. I had been meaning to string trim the weeds but the trimmer refused to keep working. Bought a new one and voila after trimming the voltage on the fence is now over 500 volts (500 is the limit on my meter). That's even higher than when I first put the fence up. I didn't do that thorough job in trimming. Plus I didn't realize that a few weeds would foul up the fence. Another factor besides the weeds touching the fence was expansion from the heat so in a couple of place the low wire was near or touching the ground. I need to keep a watch on that maybe figure out a spring in the system to keep up with the change in length from temp changes.
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oldroser
15 years ago
I'm up in Dutchess county and a local fence company put up plastic mesh on steel poles about five years ago and charged $3,000. to enclose 3/4 acre. I considered that pretty reasonable. It has to be repaired (trees keep shedding branches and this last ice storm brought down a few)from time to time and the price for that generally runs about $175. But things are less expensive up here. And it does keep deer out which is what counts.
tommyr_gw Zone 6
15 years ago
Look at this:

http://messinawildlife.com/plotsaver/homeowners.php
tetrazzini
15 years ago
Hi Hobbs, I just found this today. I don't know if you still need a deer fence, but I can recommend a reputable deer fencer who, full disclosure, happens to be a friend. I wouldn't recommend him if he weren't good tho. He's done tons of jobs in Westchester and Greenwich, including Blue Hill at The Stone Barns. I'm sure he has a lot of references. He's a very smart guy. His name is Larry Hayes and you can reach him at:

deerfencer3@aol.com
critterfence
15 years ago
Hi,
we've done professional deer fence installations for the past 10+ years, stretching from all parts of NY including Long Island, CT, RI/MA including Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard.
Fencing material ranges from typical poly mesh to all metal core fencing which is black PVC coated- fencing for all budgets. Some materials are also available online for self installation.
http://www.critterfence.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Fence & Garden Fence

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