What kind of fences are safe for deer and other animals?

Deer-friendly Fences

Seriously?

That’s right. There are people (including at least a few gardeners) who don’t want to maim or murder deer. Some people (to the dismay of many nearby gardeners) actually feed them. This suggests that the number of people who don’t want to see deer caught in fences, who won’t dance with glee if they get trapped, is quite significant.

Of course, some gardeners whose plants have been devastated by deer don’t agree. If hunting were permitted in suburban neighborhoods, and if their hunting guns worked at all hours and times when they were not attached to them, they’d kill every deer for miles around.

Deer-trapping Fences

However, even would-be hunters don’t really want deer to get trapped in fences. That’s mostly because a deer trapped in a fence is both pathetic and alive. It’s frightened, thrashing about, struggling, and kicking. Trying to release it is not necessarily a safe activity.

So, if you don’t come prepared to kill it personally (mot people don’t), how to proceed poses a real problem.  Clearly the best thing, given this difficulty, is to keep deer from getting stuck in the fence in the first place. Hence, to just about anyone, a deer-friendly fence that keeps deer from getting caught is a real asset.

The Wrong Fences

Wrought Iron Fences

Well then, what are the kinds of fences that trap deer? Wrought-iron fences can, because deer try to get their heads or their bodies through the bars and get stuck. But people don’t install wrought-iron fences as deer fences. They put up wrought iron fences to mark the boundary between the public sidewalk and their yard, and deer trying to enter the yard just happen to get stuck.

Fortunately, there is an easy answer. Put small opening size mesh fencing such as our steel web fencing, or welded wire fence which is galvanized and black, on your wrought iron fence up to a height of about five feet. That will preserve the decorative nature of your wrought iron fence while discouraging deer from poking their heads through.

Fences with Barbed Wire

Here the issue is not so much with low-to-the ground barbed wire fences designed mostly to keep in cattle. The issue is with medium-tall fences seeking to keep out deer that run a length of barbed wire along the top. In the latter case, if a deer tries to jump the fence it’s apt to get caught and perhaps hung up on the barbed wire.

Here again, if this happens on your fence, there is an easy answer. Simply remove the barbed wire and replace it with one or more smooth wires spaced out vertically at 6-inch intervals. This will prevent the deer from getting caught but will work at least as well as the barbed wire to keep them out.

Fences with Large Openings

Fences made of strong steel wires with large mesh sizes (four inches or more) also pose a hazard, That’s because unwary deer may poke their heads or legs through the openings and be unable to extract them. In fact, deer entrapment by such fences is very common.

The best answer in this case is drastic. The best answer is to replace the fencing with other steel fencing in which the wires are typically smaller and less visible, and in which the mesh size is also smaller, typically consisting of something like two-inch squares.

The Right Fences

Hardly any professional deer fence has this problem. Whether made of plastic or of black galvanized welded wire, their mesh sizes are too small to trap deer. That is true of virtually all polypropylene deer fencing, and of all black welded wire deer fencing that has mesh sizes of two inches square or less.

People sometimes think that the larger the opening the less visible the fence, but that’s not true. At least in the case of welded wire fencing, the smaller mesh sizes are less visible because their wires are thinner--while still being plenty strong enough to keep out deer.

So, if you’re looking for deer fencing that will work but won’t trap deer, get either strong plastic fencing (with a breaking strength of at least 650+ pounds per linear foot) or black welded wire fencing with a mesh size of one- or two-inches square. Make your fence tall enough to discourage jumping (7 or 7.5 feet will generally do). And avoid any temptation to put a run of barbed wire along the top.