Show Transcript
0:00Hi guys. In this video, we're going to be talking about ways to manage large pests and ways to keep them out of your
0:06crops. So, we have 27 years of experience in this. So, what is the
0:13wisdom from Farmer John on managing large pests? Well, I can just tell you what we've done, what's worked and what hasn't. Um,
0:23I think I would start by talking about fencing a little bit cuz obviously fencing is the best solution for dealing
0:33with keeping animals out. But fencing has its own downside. Anytime you start
0:40dealing with permanent fencing, then you get into the whole maintenance side of things. And if you're not spraying Roundup around your fence line,
0:53um you're left with a lot of work. And so, you know, theoretically, you can keep out any pest with the proper fence,
1:03but do you want the work of maintaining that fence?
1:08Yeah. And I'm thinking specifically of the smaller animals like rabbits and and uh possums and that kind of thing. Yeah,
1:19you know, you can you can use chicken wire and bury it in the ground and keep out, you know, even gophers and stuff
1:27like that, but how do you keep the grass and everything from growing up in that?
1:34Yeah. And I mean, it's just a tremendous amount of work. So, I really really encourage people to think that through
1:43before they make big permanent investments.
1:49Um, you know, when it comes to deer, I I was researching a few years back on this
1:56and they said the only thing that's guaranteed to keep deer out is a 10-ft high brick wall.
2:07And obviously that's not a a a really I mean at least for for us that's not an
2:15option. That would be a very expensive option. So anything else is not going to be 100% deer proof but you kind of have
2:24to figure out um that sweet spot which works without being incredibly expensive.
2:32Yeah. So what I can tell you we did for years and years and it worked amazingly
2:40is we the the system kind of evolved but we used just to standard 8ft topost.
2:50This is not an 8ft Tpost but um just pounding them in the ground every
2:57approximately 25 ft. So, not a lot of posts. You know, for a 30 by 100 ft
3:06um plot, we would use 12 posts, five down either side and then one in the
3:14middle on the top and bottom. So, just pound in your posts and then you just use the the simple um
3:23electric fence insulators and clip it on the top. Ah.
3:32like that.
3:34And then here you hold that. So when you're driving the tost in, you're driving them basically to where these are level with the top of the the soil,
3:42right? Yeah. So it ends up being, you know,
3:46it's only between 6 and 1/2 and 7 ft tall at the most when when it's in the ground.
3:55Yeah. Um but then we use this product.
4:00It's available a lot of places. Um but it's the the trade name is well the
4:08company is 10x T E N A X and the product is called Centiflex.
4:16C I N T O Flex. Centiflex. Um,
4:23I think there's a couple different heights and there's different weights,
4:28but I just want to encourage you. There is stuff out there that's super lightweight
4:36that you know deer go through without even knowing they've gone through it pretty much. So, this is a heavier duty
4:44and and if you have a lot of deer pressure, they even have thicker stuff than this.
4:51But basically, do you want to roll it out just a little bit? Yeah, we can roll it out. So,
4:59this has been in the in the storage pile. We don't we don't use this stuff anymore. We just haven't
5:06gotten rid of it. But, um, you know, you can just roll it out on the ground around your field. And then you just
5:16hook the top. And I I always go up a ways with it. Just hook it on here.
5:25And then Well, maybe that's a little bit too much. Well, the post isn't in the
5:31ground, but Yeah, that's true. The idea is when you clip it on the top, you'll have a foot or two that can kind of
5:39flare out on the ground. Yeah. So, it's kind of like this cuz deer actually if they're really desperate, they will try to go under.
5:51Um, and this kind of helps that from happening.
5:57We've we've never had deer get into a plot that we had closed up with this.
6:02Now, you know, if you leave an opening or whatever, they will find it,
6:07but it seems to they they have a hard time um seeing it. You know, some places call
6:15it invisible deer fence and so they can't judge how high it is.
6:20You know, I have heard some people say they've had deer jump over it. We never had that happen, but we use this for years and year. I mean, 20 plus years.
6:31Um, and it worked great.
6:34And then, you know, when it comes to maintenance,
6:38you just pull your fence up and clip it up here temporarily and do your mowing
6:45and weed eating around the base. So, it really is fairly low maintenance. And what only one clip per post.
6:54One clip per post.
6:55That's all we ever did. Except where you you get in and usually, you know, you've put two on there. Yeah.
7:02And then your your gate is just lifting the fence up.
7:06Yeah. No fancy complicated gate. Just overlap it and have a second clip and then you just open it and walk in.
7:14Very simple, but very effective.
7:17Uh and and what we did is we just fenced the plots we knew deer liked. things like strawberries, sweet potatoes,
7:28green beans, um beets,
7:34you know. So, so we were selective. We didn't, you know, at least for us, you know, they don't get into tomatoes much.
7:42They don't get into okra. Um yeah, they don't get into squashes.
7:48You know, again, I've heard people say if they're hungry enough, they'll they'll eat anything. So, anyway, what
7:56happened a few years back, we did have a situation where they were hungrier than normal, and they started eating stuff
8:05they don't normally eat, getting into our lettuce and stuff, and we didn't have enough fencing or Tpost to be
8:15fencing every plot. and we lost a lot of of crop that year. So, we decided we
8:22needed to come up with just something to fence in the whole farm area. And that's what you see behind us here.
8:32Again, I did a fair bit of research and this is a simple fivewire electric
8:40fence. you know, if if your pressure was really high, you could add a few more wires and um you can do your research.
8:50You can do um negative and positive wires alternating
8:58so that that it will be um there'll be a much greater chance of
9:06the animals being shocked if you need to. This is just got a standard ground um in one place.
9:17So this is great for This is going to keep deer out, but this is not going to keep rabbits and any small small rodents out.
9:24Exactly. So this I mean in in my opinion, deer is is the big one because deer can decimate a plot of green beans
9:32or something in one night. So deer is what we're really concerned most about.
9:39And and this is the trick. I guess we don't have one right here, but we've got little caps. Maybe we can get a picture
9:47of one later on that wrap. Uh this fence is not on.
9:56um that they've got metal um twisty tie kind of things that will
10:05wrap on here and then those caps have a cotton ball in them and you put a scent.
10:12What we got from Premier Fencing is an apple scent. Hm. But I've heard of
10:18people doing similar things with like um uh aluminum foil and peanut butter or something. You just want something
10:27that's conductive. And you're trying to actually lure the deer to the fence. And
10:34the goal is to get them to come and touch the fence, ideally with their nose, which is one of the most sensitive parts, and give them a good zap.
10:45And they stay away. Yeah.
10:49You know, you you train them to the fence cuz I mean, they could so easily go through this or jump over it, but
10:57when they're afraid of it, they don't come near it. Yeah.
11:00In fact, you know, don't tell the deer this, but this fence hasn't been on in quite a while. And I know we're gambling
11:09here cuz um sooner or later they're going to figure it out. The next generation's going to
11:16come along and figure out they can go through it. But so we got to get it back on. But the point is
11:26we haven't had a deer in here in a couple years. So that solved the problem. And it's nice because it goes all the way around the perimeter of the
11:35working area and kind of butts up to the barn. So you never have to go through the fence to get into the barn wash or
11:42into the tunnels. And then you have a couple of areas that are easy and most of the time just stay open up here by the barn for driving. You can close this off.
11:53We've got a gate here. Yeah.
11:56You know, just rope gate. Um and it's easy to maintain. That's the beauty. You know, you can mow under it and then you just have to weed it around each post,
12:06but as far as as um fences go, it's very low maintenance.
12:12How much would you say this fence cost you? Which you're you're fencing in what uh 5 acres.
12:22We had the Tposts, so we, you know, figuring in the Tpost would add to this,
12:30but just the the wire,
12:34the rope and the all the insulators and and the charger.
12:42It was around $1,200. Yeah.
12:45For 5 acres. Very That's cheap.
12:48Yeah. I mean to would have been a probably at least a couple thousand dollar.
12:51Yeah, that would have doubled or or more than doubled it probably.
12:56Yeah, but it is a a quite inexpensive way to fence a lot of space. Uh, one
13:03pointer with electric fences, uh, put it on a timer so that it's not on during the day because you're not gonna have
13:11pressure from deer during the day and you don't want to accidentally bump it or for kids, I know there's some sad
13:19stories of young kids uh, with electric fences. So, you don't want a fence,
13:25especially with a charger as big as you have to have to to charge this one. Can really do some some some cause some pain
13:32or do some damage. So, put it on a timer to where it comes on at night uh and then turns off in the morning. Yeah,
13:41Premier Fencing is a great source.
13:44There's obviously many others, but we've we've dealt with them. Um, Premier One,
13:51I guess it's called. Yeah. The other suggestions.
13:55Yeah. The other thing I would just say I think Elliot Coleman in his new organic grower had a great concept and we
14:03actually did this for a while and that is an invisible fence underground fence.
14:08You remember we ran a wire around our whole property, well at least the whole farm part
14:17and just had collars on the dogs. In my opinion, dogs is the key here. You want dogs to keep out all your little stuff,
14:27your rabbits and and so do your research. Know what your pests are and
14:34what kind of dogs are going to do good with that. You know, for
14:40rabbits, you've got your hounds and your terriers terrier kind of dogs. Um,
14:48yeah,
14:49dogs can be a great solution for animals. And, you know, now they've got the um
14:57satellite um what do you call it? Like a a GPS. Yeah. A GPS.
15:04You don't even have to bury the the wire.
15:06Exactly. Cuz what happened with ours after time, we had it running through the woods and the deer tripped over it.
15:13We didn't have it buried well in the woods. And you know, you start getting breaks in the wire and then it's a lot to maintain.
15:20It it's a pain to try to figure out where those are and deal with it. So,
15:26you know, a GPS you just plot out your place, you know, and Elliot recommends,
15:32you know, you have your food on one side of the farm and the shelter on the other. So, you're encouraging the dogs
15:40to kind of patrol the farm.
15:43Yeah. So, I think a combination between maybe a simple electric fence like this
15:50and um something where you're going to have dogs patrolling for your smaller animals
15:58um is a good way to go. And then finally, last resort,
16:03um, you know, we do have a shotgun that if we start having big issues with with
16:11rabbits or whatever, we will um start patrolling at night, pair down the population a little bit. Yeah.
16:21And, you know, I don't I don't like to do that. I'm a pacifist,
16:27as you well know. Um, but I'm not going to let the animals eat our our livelihood. You can't.
16:37Yeah. And on deer, I know at least once or twice we've had um a deer that just was like a just a total
16:46uh just a nuisance. Like figured out how to get through the fence. Just would not you like you could almost just run up to it and try to chase it off and it
16:54wouldn't move. the dogs were got to the point where they're scared of it because deer can actually be pretty aggressive if they stand up even to a dog, you
17:01know. We had we had a dog that got ripped open from a deer.
17:05And so sometimes you you may have to just take one out. And even if it's not in hunting season, you you can get permission from your local game wardens
17:14to to shoot a deer out of hunting season. And we've had to do that a couple of times for just deer that just were just
17:21completely uh out of their mind. not not cooperating with the program.
17:26So, all right. Before we wrap, I think there was Did we talk about pricing on this uh fencing because that might be something people are interested in.
17:36Um I know we talked about all the other perks. It's easy up, easy down, you know, easy to to relatively easy to maintain. Uh but cost,
17:45you know, I I should have looked at that recently. It's been quite a few years since I bought any, so I can't really
17:53speak to current pricing, but I know last time we bought it, it was still less than a dollar a foot.
18:01Okay.
18:02Um, it comes in either 100 ft rolls or 330t rolls, last I knew. Yeah.
18:09And you know, I think the 330 foot roll was $280 or something. I'm sure it's gone up.
18:16Yeah. But still it's cheap as far as fencing goes.
18:22Yeah. And this one does work well for a lot of the small rodents and you know pests and stuff.
18:27Yeah. You know although they we have had things chew through it. Yeah.
18:35So it's not a total solution but you know it's good for raccoons. Okay.
18:43Um, well, there's two good options here.
18:46This one we used for 20some plus years and more recently gone to a full electric. And I think that in hindsight,
18:56would you have gone to this electric perimeter sooner? Probably. Yeah, I would definitely cuz you know,
19:03you've got the work of taking the fence up and down, moving the Tposts and stuff here. And I think a lot of this electric
19:09fence technology also has uh become more uh well it's been improved and become
19:16more affordable over the last 10 or 15 years probably. So um yeah look into electric fence fence perimeter.
19:25That's a great way to go. Um,
19:29and just think long and hard about any kind of woven wire fence where you're going to have to be maintaining it. And specifically down at the ground, um,
19:41managing the weeds.
19:42I was at a friend's farm not too long ago trying to deal with an
19:498 foot high woven wire fence that had they hadn't maintained for four or five years. the vines had grown up and
19:58actually pulled the fence over and so we were spending hours and hours trying to
20:04get these vines out of the fence and you know if you weed eated along a woven wire fence you just eat up your string
20:13so quickly so it's I don't think it's a good solution and I know this video is going long here but
20:23um you remember our experience at Elliot Coleman 's farm with the vos. Mhm.
20:30Um, you know, he had fenced in his whole farm with a permanent fence and he started having a huge vo infestation.
20:41And his theory, and it makes a lot of sense to me, was that he had fenced out the predators.
20:48Yeah. And so there was nothing dealing with the VO population and they were they were a bit of a Yeah. Hope
20:58you've gotten some useful information out of this. Um couple different techniques for handling deer largely and other small pests. So if you have any
21:07other questions, feel free to reach out and we'll consider answering it in a future video. Until next time, happy growing.
21:15[Music]
How to Keep Deer and Large Pests Off Your Garden
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
For deer, a perimeter five-wire electric fence with scented lure caps is the most cost-effective solution — Bountiful Blessings Farm fenced 5 acres for about $1,200 (not counting T-posts). For smaller pests like rabbits, farm dogs are more practical than physical fencing. Avoid permanent woven-wire fences — they're a maintenance nightmare. And think carefully before fencing out predators entirely, because you may inadvertently create a pest haven inside the fence.
If you've ever walked out to your green bean plot and found it stripped bare overnight, you know the sinking feeling that large pest damage creates. One night of deer can wipe out weeks of work and thousands of dollars in revenue.
My dad, John Dysinger, has been dealing with deer, rabbits, raccoons, and other large pests at Bountiful Blessings Farm for 27 years. His approach has evolved from selective plot fencing to a full-perimeter electric fence — and along the way, he's learned what works, what doesn't, and what creates more problems than it solves.
The Invisible Deer Fence: 20 Years of Success
For over 20 years, Bountiful Blessings Farm used a simple, lightweight system to protect individual plots from deer.
The setup: Standard 8-foot T-posts pounded into the ground every 25 feet around each plot. A single electric fence insulator clipped to the top of each post. Then a product called Tenax Cintoflex — a heavy-duty plastic mesh netting — rolled out around the perimeter, hooked onto the top insulator, with a foot or two of excess material flaring out along the ground.
For a 30×100-foot plot, that's just 12 posts — five down each side and one in the middle at each end. One clip per post. No fancy gate — just overlap the netting where you enter, add a second clip, and lift it to walk through.
Why it works: The netting is sometimes called "invisible deer fence" because deer can't see it well and can't judge the height. Even though the effective height is only 6½ to 7 feet (not tall enough to physically stop a determined deer), they don't attempt to jump what they can't assess. In over 20 years, Bountiful Blessings Farm never had a deer get into a properly enclosed plot.
Key detail: Don't buy the ultra-lightweight netting. Deer will walk through thin mesh without even noticing. Tenax Cintoflex comes in different weights — go with the heavier duty version. If your deer pressure is extreme, they make even thicker options.
Why they stopped using it: The system was selective — they only fenced plots with deer-attractive crops (strawberries, sweet potatoes, green beans, beets). One year, deer got hungrier than usual and started eating crops they normally ignore, like lettuce. There weren't enough T-posts and netting to fence every plot, and they lost significant crop that season.
The Full-Perimeter Electric Fence
After the bad deer year, my dad decided to fence the entire working area of the farm — about 5 acres — with a simple electric fence.
The setup: Five-wire electric fence on T-posts around the full perimeter, butting up against the barn so the tunnels, wash station, and barn are all inside the fence. A couple of rope gates at access points for vehicles and equipment, left open during the day and closed at night.
Cost: About $1,200 for the wire, rope, insulators, and charger (they already had the T-posts). Remarkably affordable for 5 acres of protection.
The scent lure trick: This is what actually trains the deer. Small caps with cotton balls soaked in apple scent are attached to the fence wire. The scent lures deer to investigate, and when they touch the fence — ideally with their nose, one of their most sensitive spots — they get a strong zap. After one or two experiences, deer learn to avoid the fence entirely.
My dad has heard of people using aluminum foil with peanut butter for the same purpose — you just want something conductive and attractive that gets the deer to make contact. Premier One Fencing (formerly Premier Fencing) is the source Bountiful Blessings Farm used for their electric fence supplies and the scent lures.
How effective is it? Extremely. In fact, my dad admits the fence hasn't been turned on in quite a while — and they still haven't had a deer inside in a couple of years. The trained deer population simply avoids the area. Of course, that's a gamble — a new generation of deer will eventually figure it out — so keeping the charger on is the smart play long-term.
Important safety tip: Put the fence on a timer. Turn it on at dusk and off in the morning. Deer pressure is a nighttime problem, and you don't want people — especially children — accidentally contacting a charger sized for a full perimeter fence. A charger big enough to power five wires around 5 acres can deliver a serious shock.
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Why You Should Think Twice About Permanent Woven-Wire Fencing
This is one of those lessons my dad wishes more people heard before they invest. Permanent woven-wire fencing — the kind with small mesh openings designed to exclude everything from deer to rabbits — seems like the ultimate solution. In practice, it's a maintenance nightmare.
The fundamental problem: the ground-level maintenance never ends. Grass and weeds grow into the fence base. Vines climb the mesh. If you weed-eat along woven wire, you chew through trimmer string at an absurd rate. If you spray herbicide, you're putting chemicals near your growing area. And if you neglect it for a few years, the vegetation can literally pull the fence over.
My dad helped a friend deal with exactly this — an 8-foot woven-wire fence that hadn't been maintained for four or five years. Vines had grown through the mesh and dragged the fence down. They spent hours cutting vines out of the wire, and it was still a mess when they were done.
There's another risk: fencing out predators. Eliot Coleman fenced in his entire farm with permanent fencing and later experienced a massive vole infestation. His theory — which makes sense — is that the fence excluded the foxes, hawks, and other predators that naturally control vole populations. The pest he was trying to protect against (deer) was replaced by a pest that thrived inside the fence (voles).
Think carefully about what you're actually trying to exclude before you build something permanent.
Dogs: The Best Solution for Small Pests
For rabbits, groundhogs, raccoons, and other small animals that an electric fence won't stop, farm dogs are the most practical solution.
My dad's recommendation: research breeds that match your specific pest pressure. Hounds and terriers are excellent for rabbits. Livestock guardian breeds patrol and deter a wide range of animals.
The challenge is keeping the dogs on the farm. Bountiful Blessings Farm ran an underground invisible fence wire around the property for years, but the wire eventually broke in the woods where deer tripped over it, and finding and repairing breaks was a constant headache.
The modern solution is GPS-based invisible fence systems that don't require buried wire — you just plot your boundary digitally, and the collar handles the rest. No wire to break, no maintenance nightmare.
Eliot Coleman's advice on dog placement: put the food on one side of the farm and the shelter on the other. This naturally encourages the dogs to patrol the full property as they move between eating and resting.
When Nothing Else Works
As a last resort, population control is sometimes necessary. Rabbits that are wiping out your crops may need to be thinned with nighttime patrols. Deer that have learned to defeat your fencing — my dad has dealt with individual deer that were so bold they wouldn't flee from a charging dog — may need to be removed.
Even outside of hunting season, most states allow farmers to get depredation permits from local game wardens for deer that are causing documented crop damage. It's not something any farmer enjoys, but protecting your livelihood sometimes requires it.
Frequently Asked Questions
A five-wire perimeter electric fence with scented lure caps is the most cost-effective option. Bountiful Blessings Farm fenced 5 acres for about $1,200. The scent lures train deer to avoid the fence after one or two shocks, and the system is low-maintenance compared to physical barriers.
For a simple five-wire electric fence: approximately $1,200 for 5 acres (wire, insulators, charger, lure caps — not counting T-posts). Tenax Cintoflex netting for individual plots is typically under $1 per linear foot. Either option is dramatically cheaper than permanent woven-wire fencing.
Yes — Tenax Cintoflex heavy-duty netting on 8-foot T-posts kept deer out of protected plots at Bountiful Blessings Farm for over 20 years. Deer can't see the netting well and won't jump what they can't assess. Use the heavier weight product — lightweight mesh won't stop a deer.
Farm dogs — particularly hounds and terrier breeds — are the most practical solution for rabbits and other small pests. Physical fencing for rabbits requires buried chicken wire, which creates significant ground-level maintenance challenges. A GPS-based invisible fence system keeps dogs on the property without the maintenance problems of buried wire.
Think carefully before committing. Permanent fencing requires constant ground-level maintenance (weeds, vines, trimmer line consumption), and neglecting it for even a few years can result in vegetation pulling the fence down. It can also exclude predators, leading to explosions of voles and other small pests inside the fence.
Yes. Deer pressure is primarily a nighttime problem, so run the fence from dusk to dawn. Turning it off during the day prevents accidental shocks to workers, children, and visitors — especially important with the larger chargers needed for full-perimeter fencing.
The Takeaway
Start with a full-perimeter electric fence for deer — it's the most cost-effective, lowest-maintenance option for large-area protection. Use scent lures to train deer to avoid it. Add farm dogs for small pest control. And resist the temptation of permanent woven-wire fencing unless you're prepared for the ongoing maintenance and the unintended consequences of excluding predators.
In hindsight, my dad would have installed the perimeter electric fence much sooner rather than spending years selectively fencing individual plots. The technology has gotten better and more affordable, and the peace of mind is worth it.