Be careful how you use and store deer netting

[hendi_alex]

About 20 years ago, maybe longer, I wadded some deer netting and temporarily stored it in the corner of our old barn. Went to deal the netting a few weeks later, and at least six large rat snakes were tangled and dead. They crawl into the netting, get trapped, and can't back out.

Just two weeks ago I used some netting to protect some fruit trees from the deer. Once again, being a slow learner evidently with bad memory, I placed the netting on the ground and left it for about a week or two before returning to roll it and place it on a shelf in the barn. The oldest, biggest blackest hog nosed snake that I've ever seen was tangled and dead. She broke in half during cleanup, and the critter contained an almost fully developed egg case, so a double hit! In the future, I'll never leave the netting in contact with the ground, or anywhere else where our snakes are likely to get tangled.

[GardeningCook]

I don't use any nettings outside of micromesh anymore specifically because of first-hand experience with both snakes & birds getting tangled in it. It's not worth the trouble & anguish for both me & the critters.

[hendi_alex]

I'm in the process of putting up a six foot 2 x 4 welded wire fence. Hopefully that will deter the deer from entering the space. I know that they can jump six feet, but am betting that they won't be motivated to do so, and will just graze in more acceptable places.

[imafan26]

I'm glad I haven't had problems with bird netting. But just to be safe, I think I'll bag it when if I get around to storing it. Shade cloth, just gets dirty , but doesn't seem to trap anything. However mice and ants like styrofoam peanuts and ants like shagnum moss. I put mouse bait in the styrofoam peanuts and boric acid in the sphagnum moss. No problems.

Thankfully, I don't have toads, deer, or snakes to worry about. I accidentally brought home some greenhouse frogs on my plants, but it seems slug bait took care of them too.

[GardeningCook]

I ADORE & protect all the frogs & toads we have around here. Wonderful natural pest control.

[imafan26]

Greenhouse frogs are invasive aliens and more of a nuisance. A toad would be welcome.

https://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawai ... index.html

[applestar]

Hendi_alex, I have heard, though not experienced first hand, that a thicker visible rope like a clothesline (maybe even surveyer's tape) above the 6 ft fence (at 7-8 ft level? Not sure) helps to visually raise the fence to the deer. Also that a similar line strung at their chest level (or a 4 ft fence?) a few feet in front of the deer fence would make the jump more difficult....

I usually tightly fold large swaths of garden stuff and stuff them in empty soil/rock/sand bags. This seems to work well with netting and usually only thing I find in the bag are dead moths. But whenever I store tarp or garden fleece in the shed over the winter, mice get into them to build nests and gnaw holes through several layers at a time, ruining them.

...I suspect though, that hendi-alex is talking about a MUCH bigger swath of netting.....

[hendi_alex]

If the six foot height doesn't work, my plan is to attach an extension on posts and stretch a wire up another 1.5-2 feet. And yes, I've watched the deer jump the fence before. They stand right beside it and spring over. So any barrier that put them a few feet away from the fence would likely make the jump more difficult.

[GardeningCook]

Yup - deer are terrific at the high jump. It's amazing what they can easily clear. Breadth/width, however, gives them serious pause for thought. So if you can't go high, try to go wide.

[hendi_alex]

The odd thing to me is that we clear cut the remainder of our pine stand about three years ago. Huge amounts of natural open field, lots of swampy area, lots of mixed hardwoods thin enough for abundant growth. It would seem that the deer would have plenty of food without having to visit my garden. My bet is that they will have low motivation to be jumping a six foot fence. Have seen no evidence of them jumping the six foot fence in the chicken yard to get at this year's corn crop.

[imafan26]

They probably visit your garden because they have been there before and know what they will find.

[GardeningCook]

The odd thing to me is that we clear cut the remainder of our pine stand about three years ago. Huge amounts of natural open field, lots of swampy area, lots of mixed hardwoods thin enough for abundant growth. It would seem that the deer would have plenty of food without having to visit my garden. My bet is that they will have low motivation to be jumping a six foot fence. Have seen no evidence of them jumping the six foot fence in the chicken yard to get at this year's corn crop.

Well - do keep an eye on things. My 4-board oak fencing for my horses is 5-1/2' high, & even though there's plenty more to eat elsewhere, the deer are in there all the time.

[hendi_alex]

If they are too persistent, perhaps will place a perimeter of four foot sharpened stakes inside the fence. Then can have some deer kabob from time to time.

[GardeningCook]

If they are too persistent, perhaps will place a perimeter of four foot sharpened stakes inside the fence. Then can have some deer kabob from time to time.

I'm not sure that maiming is the best idea.

[GardeningCook]

Greenhouse frogs are invasive aliens and more of a nuisance. A toad would be welcome.

https://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawai ... index.html

But "imafan" - you live in HAWAII!! Completely different environment. The rest of the majority of posters here do not live in Hawaii, thus frogs & toads are not only not considered invasive species, but are welcome pest-control residents.

[hendi_alex]

Was kidding about deer kabob, but probably are thousands, maybe even tens of thousands shot without a clean kill during hunting season. Seems that such would put a taint on the concept of deer hunting as a 'sport' but evidently not.

[webmaster]

But "imafan" - you live in HAWAII!! Completely different environment. The rest of the majority of posters here do not live in Hawaii, thus frogs & toads are not only not considered invasive species, but are welcome pest-control residents.

GC, of course you are absolutely right. Native frogs and toads are perfectly welcome. However, Imafan's correct, too.
Greenhouse Frogs is a reference to Eleutherodactylus planirostris, which is an invasive non-native frog to North America, a frog whose native habitat is Cuba and a few other Caribbean islands.