Electric Fence

September 12, 2018 Dear Fellow Gardeners,We gratefully share our Town with an abundant animal population. Sharing the hard work of our vegetable gardens with the local herds of deer does not make for productive vegetable gardens. In a single night, early this summer, visiting deer visited the buffet table of our garden. Tomato plants were trimmed, top, bottom and they ate unripe fruit. Beet tops, green beans and squash plants nibbled to the ground. They love parsley. Our pumpkin and squash plots were trampled, flowers disappeared.Our vegetable garden is protected with wire sunken six inches into the soil and controls damage by rabbits and racoons. Deer can easily jump a fence less than eight feet.The damage this Summer was probably intensified by the lack of rain and the deer sought moisture from the plants.We protect a row of arborvitae trees every fall with an application of Deer Off. The deer were oblivious to the application of the repellant around the vegetable garden perimeter.After consultation with our neighboring dairyman, Andrew Morley, he suggested installing an electric wire above the four-foot garden fence.We called his electric fence supplier, Wellscroft Fence 1-855-327-6336.In three days, they shipped half inch seven-foot poles, a power pack, connectors, grounding rod, wire and the woven ribbon wire that would carry the electric current.A friend at a local marina provided a used 12V marine deep cycle battery We also bought a small solar panel to charge the battery.A half day of carpentry built supports for the system components. Jeremy Allen and I installed the system in an hour. The fence provides 5000-9000 volts of shock. We baited the ribbon with apple syrup to acquaint the deer with the new sensation.The deer have moved on to a different late-night buffet. Please do not ask the cost, we do not have a vegetable garden to save money. Rob Marra