Mother Nature 2 - Father Time 0

Mother Nature kicks sand in my face.
For the past five years, White-tailed deer have easily jumped the 5' chain-link fence surrounding my garden and orchard. Once inside, they feast on my apples, strawberries, rose bushes, and beans. In short, they leave me no choice but to purchase my produce at the local supermarket!

Father Time's devious plan
Following a neighbor's lead, I'm re-engineering my fence and raising the height to 10'. Yesterday I purchased the necessary materials (poles, wires, and fasteners) to increase the overall height and, simultaneously, create a hazard to low flying aircraft.

"Yes", I silently bragged to myself, "Only Olympic qualified deer will get in here now!"

The deer's devious plan
As I was attaching the first pole to the fence with industrial-strength u-bolts, I happened to look over at my neighbor's yard. Unbelievably, FIVE deer were resting in his yard, contentedly munching grass and watching me work!

OK, I've worked in front of an audience before but this was a bit much. Then as if to mock me, the largest deer looked right at me and, I swear, smiled at me!

I could hear him saying, "Bring it on old man. When you're done, we'll still jump over!" Now, to say I was shocked would be a masterpiece of understatement. On the other hand, I'm a calm deliberate person, so I did what any semi-intelligent person would do - I stuck my tongue out at him!

Father Time counter punches
After a little research on the Internet, I've discovered that once I've raised the height of the fence, I should attach 2' white streamers on the top wire every five feet along the entire length of the fence. For reasons known only to deer, this will absolutely keep them at bay. In the meantime, my home will look like a used car lot having a clearance sale.

Other than a few meaningless class-action law suits from neighbors, the next move is up the the deer.

This isn't over yet!
Once the fence is complete, I will share photos of the deer and the fence here on the blog. They will also be used in court as defense exhibits.

Father Time will prevail!