[SustainableTompkins] Dogs, deer, fertilizer and body odor.

[Andrejs Ozolins]

We had a dog briefly when we moved to George's neighborhood. The deer 
didn't approach our house but were devouring everything of the neighbors 
on either side of us.

After we lost our dog, we devised a method that others might find 
interesting. We surrounded our garden with a four-foot high chicken wire 
fence. But, then, we surrounded that with three strands of electric 
fence about 6-8 inches outside the chicken wire. One strand was just 
above the top of the chicken wire; one strand was as close to the ground 
as possible without shorting out all the time (4-6"), and the third 
strand about 8-10 inches above that bottom strand. We powered it with 
the little solar fencer that we had used when we lived out in the woods. 
We had to stake down and block the bottom of the chicken wire or the 
woodchucks, rabbits, etc would dart past the electric wire and get in. 
But the setup kept out deer for close to 15 years. We were backing away 
from gardening and neglecting necessary upkeep of the fence or, 
probably, it would still work.

The idea of it was that deer don't like things they don't understand; 
they come to investigate the fencing. When they bend over to check out 
the chicken wire, they get zapped by the wire. At least that seems to be 
what happened. They could have leapt over the fence effortlessly at any 
time; but, having been zapped in the investigation, they stayed away.

Of course, if there were lots of plots fenced this way, the deer might 
surmount their inclinations and just start jumping in. But, it's worth a 
try -- a fencer is pricey, but they last forever; wire is cheap and durable.

As for body odor, I remember quite clearly the invention of the term 
"BO" and how it was rammed into the consciousness of a public which, 
until then, had apparently lacked adequate terms of derision for people 
who didn't bathe multiple times a day and apply chemicals to preserve 
their purity. I was an eastern european kid living in a family that was 
not very assimilated to the mainstream and it was impossible for me to 
achieve approval. Interestingly, my family practiced housekeeping that 
would have to be called compulsively clean. Their standards were 
extremely stringent when it came to cleanliness or sanitation. But it 
was all easily possible in the framework of the once-a-week bath, and 
deodorant was completely unknown. My personal conclusion after all that 
is that odor isn't all that hard to minimize and, moreover, odor doesn't 
have to be absolutely extirpated to make society bearable.

Andrejs

George Frantz wrote:
> Deer have avoided our yard since we got our dog a little over three years ago.