High Altitude Gardening - Environment, Animals

Most rural gardeners know how much deer love garden vegetables. We have herds of deer moseying around our property throughout the year.

We also have elk. Elk have the basically same appetite as deer except are much larger, eat a lot more, and will eat almost any plant including aspen, douglas fir, and onions. Fortunately, in the summer, elk migrate to higher altitudes to breed and eat the lush mountain grasses. However, in early autumn, elk herds migrate back to our altitude for the winter season. While deer tend to congregate in herds of 3 to 8 animals, we have seen elk herds with over 150 animals move though our property. We enjoy seeing these large herds but they do eat a lot.

I put up an electric fence every June to keep the deer and elk out of the vegetable garden. Six strands of electric wire are strung on fiberglass poles. The fence is powered by a transformer that uses an old car battery for its source. I learned it is not a good idea to touch the fence while standing in wet grass with bare feet.... This photograph shows the electric fence surrounding my 1992 vegetable garden.

The fence is effective about keeping deer and elk out of the garden, most of the time. Every now and then, an elk will bumble through the fence in the night and get a shock. The elk is usually so upset, it will jump right through the garden and the fence on the other side, not eating anything along the way.