I arrived home from my holiday just before 5pm and it was glaringly obvious that the deer had made the most of my absence. They had got the rhubarb and potato tops again and even nibbled the yams and silverbeet plants I have in the raised bed. New leaves were already forming on the rhubarb so they must have jumped the fence in the first week that I was away. My frustration turned to murderous intent yesterday morning when the deer returned during the night and trashed the rhubarb again, leaving just the dirt with hoof prints in. It's hard enough growing things here with the soil and short growing season and for the first time I'm seriously contemplating giving up altogether.
Inspired by this morning's sunshine I popped on a couple of loads of washing and decided to rig up a clothes line between the trees so the sheets would dry faster. The Weather Gods were playing games though and first the clouds rolled in, followed by the rain. BUT my brain started ticking and I wondered if I could use the washing line to string up some of my
Mikroclima cloth between the garage and the house! This could hang above and also be attached to the fence that
used to keep the deer out. Hmmm.
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I removed the rest of the manuka from in front of the vege garden
so the deer have no cover now |
A close inspection of the garage showed that I could possibly attach one end of the line to the framing and run it out of the door and across to the deck. The 2m-wide Mikroclima cloth has eyelets woven into the edge so I could weave the line through this, a bit like net curtaining. As long as the line's strong enough to cope with the weight, AND the wind doesn't rip it to bits, I'm hoping that this will be a temporary fix until I can get the tyre retaining wall in. Fingers crossed!
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| Threading the line through the Mikroclima cloth eyelets |
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| ...then attach the loose end to the deck post... |
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| ...and voila! Can whitetail deer jump this high?? |
