WVU Update
Published as a Special Insert for Farm Bureau News
Summer 2014
Protect your garden from wildlife
A
garden can be satisfying and rewarding, until wildlife invades.
Don’t let frustration be your only crop. There are ways to protect
your produce.
Fences
Fencing is the most efficient and
cost-effective method of keeping
unwanted wildlife from small gardens.
The extent of the wildlife intrusion
and the amount of money a gardener
is willing to invest will determine
the fence design and materials.
White-tailed deer are the most
commonly reported cause of
garden damage. In areas where deer
populations or deer damage are low,
a single-wire electric fence, 30 inches
off the ground, can deter deer from
a garden. To make the single-strand
electric fence more effective, smear
peanut butter on 3-by-4 inch flags
of foil and attach these to the fence
at regular intervals of 3 to 4 feet
along the fence. The peanut butter
will attract deer to the fence, the deer
will touch the flags with its nose or
mouth, and the shock will provide
adverse conditioning. Replacing the
foil flags and peanut butter with strips
of cloth soaked with an odor-based
deer repellent is another alternative.
Small- and medium-sized mammals,
such as rabbits, woodchucks
(groundhogs), voles, and moles,
can also cause significant damage to
gardens. To keep out medium-sized
Medium-sized mammals, such as
rabbits, can cause significant damage
to gardens.
mammals, use a fence made of heavy
poultry wire or 2-inch mesh woven
wire. The fence should extend at
least 3 feet above ground and be
buried about 10 to 12 inches below
ground to prevent burrowing beneath.
Woodchucks are good climbers and
can climb over wire fences; therefore,
bending the top 12 to 15 inches of
wire outward at a 45-degree angle
will help prevent this. Adding a singlewire electric fence 4 to 5 inches above
ground and about the same distance
outside the mesh fence will also help
prevent animals from climbing over.
A fence built to the specifications
for woodchucks, but using a smaller
diameter mesh, will provide protection
against smaller mammals, such as
rabbits, voles, and moles. Consider
using woven wire, poultry wire, or
hardware cloth with a mesh opening
no larger than 1 inch for rabbits. Voles
and moles will require rolls of sheet
metal or hardware cloth with a mesh
size of ¼ inch or smaller. If you add
the single-wire electric fence (with
peanut butter or repellent) above the
lower mesh fence, you will effectively
exclude both deer and smaller
mammals.
Repellants
While wildlife repellents discourage
brows