Deer Guards

Wildlife vehicle collisions has been a buzzword with State and Highway road departments, as the costs of these collisions keep growing.  These systems are meant to keep deer, sheep, elk, moose and other grazing animals out of the roadway.  These systems fence off the road and then have strategically placed funnels that allow animals to pass safely over or under the roadway. 

The other use of guards is to keep the same animal out of properties, whether it is an orchard in Washington trying to keep the Blacktail Deer out of the apples, or an estate in the Hamptons trying to keep the deer out of their flowers.  The method is the same. 

You need to match the capabilities of the animals in the area to the driving distance of the grid span.  If you have small deer, the 12’ driving distance deer guards typically do the trick.  It you have large deer and elk, you may choose to go with a 14’ or 16’ grid.  These grid spans are deterrent, and often go unchallenged. 

When a deer is put in a flight or flight situation, there isn’t a single grid that contain a spry buck in his prime, at a full run.  A deer like that can jump over 30 feet.  These guard are designed to keep out the everyday deer, but if you have the Michael Jordan of deer on your property, you may oversize your grids, or even go with a back to back system. 

Much of this decision making is based on the outcome if one animal makes it on or off the protected property.  If it’s not a big deal if a deer makes it on your property once a month or once a year, you can weight that with the cost of going to a longer grid that will be a greater deterrent. 

If having your exotic animals getting off your property is catastrophic, you may go with back to back 16’ grids creating a 32’ Driving distance grid set.  It’s a balancing act between animals’ abilities, product cost and the assed consequences if the system is compromised.