In the last few weeks the dedication of three of our men has gotten eleven miles of perimeter skirting along our fence, all in response to having
discovered a bear in the preserve. We came to the conclusion that the most effective way to protect our preserve from predators would be this wire skirting on our fence to prevent digging through as well as two high tensile hot wires.
We used a 26” mesh skirting fastened to the base of the preserve fence on the outside. This will be a barrier to keep black bears, coyotes and wolves from digging through. All while being easily coverable, for both aesthetics and functionality for purpose. This mesh runs the entire eleven miles of fence surrounding the Apple Creek Preserve because all it takes is one weak point and time for predators to start finding their way in.
The second layer of protection against predators here at Apple Creek is high tensile hot wires, two of them. The first of the wires is to encompass the preserve along the top of the fence, the second of which is to run at four feet off the ground across the entire perimeter as well. The decision on this height is a compromise between staying low enough that an animal trying to tear through the fence is sure to hit it, while keeping it high enough that no vegetation should start growing to is. Before the hot wires go up, we’ll be sure the preserve is completely rid of bears. We’ll be beating them out just to ensure we aren’t trapping them in. We will also be planting copper ground rods every five hundred feet to protect our hotwires from taking any damage due to lightning strikes.
We want to take the opportunity to thank Gary Nelson from Wild River Whitetails. He spent a Saturday afternoon here consulting and presenting some great ideas to legally control predators. Scott was very impressed with the wisdom imparted and the success that Gary has had in the hunting and breeding operation.
We hope this information proves useful to you. If you have any questions you can always contact us
and we’d be glad to help you out.
