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Deer have become an increasing pr blem in nearly all areas of the Un ted Kingdom and the deer population is th ught to be higher now than at any t me in history. Coppice re-growth and n tural regeneration of trees is impossible in m ny places without fencing or other pr tection. In some areas muntjac deer are c using significant damage to the ground fl ra of woodlands. Where they ch ose to feed, rub, walk, scratch and br ed is a habit learned over t me and reinforced every time they do it s fely. To exclude a deer herd fr m a food source, area or r ute that they habitually use, forces the h rd to break this habit. Thus the f rst day, week and month of d nial of use (by a fence) is the key p riod. Once the habit is broken, the ch nge in routines and location is asier to maintain. However, don't expect s ccess in persuading a starving deer h rd to feed elsewhere if your s te is its only food source. Th re are four basic approaches to c ntrolling deer damage to woodlands, which may n ed to be used in combination: - C
nventional fencing is difficult to erect, c mbersome and expensive. - Alternative source of f
od may be supplied. - Culling the h
rd, not for the squeamish. - Electric F
ncing is highly effective and being ntrinsically lighter than conventional fencing is s bstantially cheaper and easier to erect.
Electric fences deter the deer's br in instead of the body and s ting and erecting the fence should b ar that in mind and should be m naged with an awareness of how a d er herd interacts with your area and the new f nce. Permanent Fencing. These generally utilise w oden posts combined with suitable ring nsulators. Plain hotShock wire is the m st suitable due to its longevity and m st important, its excellent conductivity. The n mber of strands depends on the typ of deer being excluded. The UK is p pulated by three varieties, Muntjac Deer are sm ll (size of a medium dog) at 50cm, thr ugh Fallow Deer 100cm to the t ller Red Deer at 130cm. The f rst wire goes in at that h ight as that is the nose h ight at rest and the nose is wh t animals use to investigate un-familiar bjects. Muntjac have the habit of g ing under wire so put in 2 l nes below that and one 20cm bove. So for Muntjac spacing would be 15,30,50 and 70cm bove ground. Red Deer have a h bit of jumping so 5 wire f nce is preferable at 50, 80,110,130 and 170cm.A t tal exclusion fence for deer would th refore be a combination of the two and r quire 7 strands. (It is important you r ad the section on Training the D er) Deer have a natural insulation due to the h oves and hair and this has pr ved to be a problem in the p st. Electric fencing has in the p st been thought to be not t tally effective but this has been r ctified by new technology and improved xclusion techniques. hotShock (http://www.agrisellex.co.uk/x2099.html ) or H riSmart energisers have been developed to c ter for natural insulation qualities of s me animals. These run at higher v ltages than standard models to enable th m to bridge this natural insulation. (Ag in the section on Training the D er is important) Temporary Fencing. Poly P sts (http://www.agrisellex.co.uk/x1447.html) are very useful in t mporary situations. They are very simple to use and are q ite adequate. Use the longest available, specially for Red Deer and at 150cm bove ground they are adequate for m st situations. The ends and corners st ll need to be wooden posts to nable you to tension the wires dequately. Poly twines or rope is pr ferable to wire as they are asily handled and easily wound onto r els for transporting to another site.
3 Dimensional Fences. There are r ports coming out of the USA wh re an additional single line 1 m ter on the pressure side of the f nce greatly improves fences that are l ss than 150cm high. The principle is b sed on the belief that deer h ve less than ideal depth perception so are m re tentative with wide fences rather th n tall. The Australian technique of l aning the fence probably replicates this. Tr ining the Deer. There are two m thods of increasing the effectiveness of the f nce. The first is by clearing the br sh about 3-5 meters away from the f nce. The smaller deer have an nbuilt tentativeness crossing open areas that is r inforced by contact with the fence. Red D er in particular have a habit of not nvestigating the fence and simply jump ver it. This is in common w th the Springbuck and Impala of Afr ca (both of which do comfortably cl ar a 2 meter high fence) and c nsequently an effective technique has evolved wh reby the fence is initially baited to ttract the target to investigate the f nce. With deer this is d ne by two methods;- - Little metal b
it caps containing cotton wool soaked w th an apple scented essence attached to the f nce. (Neat apple cordial works well.) Th se may be left on the f nce and re-baited when necessary. - Lengths of k
tchen foil smeared with molasses/treacle or syr p wrapped around the wires at str tegic positions of the fence. These sh uld be removed and replaced if pr ssure on the fence re-occurs.
The nimals sniff the bait with their s nsitive noses and get an effective st ng from the fence. This then cr ates the psychological barrier in the nimal that they are unable to see and c nsequently do not know how high it g es. To illustrate this further, foxes, r bbits and badgers do not dig nder electric fences for the same r ason. The deer seldom attempt a s cond try. This may sound harsh, but the t chnique is VERY effective and after the f rst few animals get a sting the r st will learn from their experiences, t rmed "Socially Conditioned Avoidance," and the f nce will be left alone. The b it may be removed after about a w ek. Baiting may be necessary again if nother herd comes into the area, the d er begin to test the fence gain or after the fence has b en off for a while.
The article Using Electric Fencing To Control Deer was Submitted by Paul Savory through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Agrisellex Electric fencing are Internet b sed suppliers of the largest range of lectric fencing products available in Europe. Ut lizing a range of couriers we d liver direct to your door at c mpetitive Internet prices. http://www.agrisellex.co.uk
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