I need a good trellis side netting source

[VinesnBines]

I don't think deer were my problem with grapes. They go for the pears, corn, even butternut squash before grapes. They do eat young shoots.

My grape thieves were turkeys or racoons. Since I tried covering a few bunches with paper bags and the bags were just torn off, I settled on the racoons. While the turkeys could have torn off the bags, raccoons seem more plausible (and no I do not have the wildlife cameras in place - too cheap to buy them, yet).

I never saw any bird damage but it may be the raccoons got there first.

 

[Fox Squirrel Vin]

I think the bird issues are a bit complex.

What kind of birds you have in the area, and what the vegetation is like in your area. I'm surrounded by forests so there are a lot of birds. Go down the road to where there are cow pastures and all the trees were clear cut, you don't see many birds. Woodpeckers and cardinals and scrub jays live where there are a lot of trees and I have them in spades.

Raccoons are a big problem and so are the deer. The deer seem to prefer vegetation that is cultivated perhaps because of a higher mineral/vitamin content from the use of fertilizers. They seem to know what plants are going to provide things their body may be lacking. They rather eat the Muskadines on my trellises than the wild ones growing all over the property. It's a non stop battle.

I keep the squirrels out by feeding them and giving them their own trees outside the fences. The racoons are too big for the branches of the fruit trees the squirrels visit but are able to get into the trellises. So that plan doesn't work with them.

 

[Snafflebit]

Deer will not eat the fruit on grapevines. But they will browse the leaves and they are creatures of habit usually following a fence line and eating the edges off a trellis. My experience with raccoons says they learn what is yummy and tell all the kinfolk, then they set up a breeding program and bring the kids too!

 

[ChuckD]

I have abundant raccoons around here and plenty of bear tracks in the field this spring. When they become a problem I’ll go electric. For both you want to “bait” the wire with something like peanut butter. Hit them on the nose with it and they will remember.

 

[VinesnBines]

Deer will not eat the fruit on grapevines. But they will browse the leaves and they are creatures of habit usually following a fence line and eating the edges off a trellis. My experience with raccoons says they learn what is yummy and tell all the kinfolk, then they set up a breeding program and bring the kids too!

Spot on!

 

[VinesnBines]

I have abundant raccoons around here and plenty of bear tracks in the field this spring. When they become a problem I’ll go electric. For both you want to “bait” the wire with something like peanut butter. Hit them on the nose with it and they will remember.

I've read to bait the electric fence for deer. Especially the 3D electric deer fence. I haven't gone for the 3D - mostly because the electric fence will hinder mowing and spraying. I will do the low raccoon fences. I just can't bring myself to trap and shoot...yet.

 

[Fox Squirrel Vin]

Deer will not eat the fruit on grapevines. But they will browse the leaves and they are creatures of habit usually following a fence line and eating the edges off a trellis. My experience with raccoons says they learn what is yummy and tell all the kinfolk, then they set up a breeding program and bring the kids too!

The worst time for deer damage is just after bud break at flowering, they love that soft tender growth. Problem is, if they defoliate your cordons, you wont get any fruit that year. Deer in my area travel in herds of 6-20 so if they show up for dinner, there isn't much left when they leave. And if they don't finish it all off one night, they will be back till it's picked clean. Once the foliage hardens, it isn't as big of an issue.

 

[tmcfadden932]

During apple season that's where they are, every single morning. I usually see 2-3 deer at a time during the year but often have 10+ under the trees.

My brother has a place in Southern Ohio atop a ridge line that abuts a State Park. There is a pear tree that produces small sugar pears. The bottom of the tree from the trunk out to the dripline is perfectly flat. Looks like someone pruned it with a level. When I ask him how it got to be that way, he said it was the deer standing on the hind legs biting off all that they can reach.