The White Tail Fence Marker™: A Wildlife Impact Mitigation and Fencing Safety Device

White tail deer are the most abundant and adaptable woodland species in North America. They can accelerate to 40 MPH, cruise at 25 MPH and jump a fence that is 12 feet high. They are the most admired and beautiful of all the creatures in our woods, brush lands, deep forests and sometimes are unfortunately found in our landscapes and gardens. They are most easily adapted to our urban settings and commonly seen there as well.

Given these three facts:

  1. White tail deer were very rare and nearly extinct in parts of North America between 1880 and 1950, due to over hunting and the changing rural habitats of that era.
  2. Agricultural, urban, commercial and industrial growth in our nation has only given white tail deer an opportunity to adapt and flourish among the communities that formed around those growth centers.
  3. There are more white tail deer now in North America due to their remarkable ability to adapt to human impact on the environment.

All three facts relate to requirements that fencing must be installed in areas where white tail deer habitat is impacted by human activity. Fencing when installed and maintained for such reasons as boundary lines, livestock grazing, crop planting and harvesting, parks and recreational areas and the most often cited requirements of all, SAFETY and SECURITY, creating wildlife impact with these installations where they are required. Fencing will inevitably infringe on ages old game trails and feeding ranges of white tail deer. They will adapt but will always be impacted by the fencing required for renewable energy security and safety.

As the renewable energy industry is growing and developing in our nation to supply the energy needs of growing communities and the renewal of industry and cities, the consideration of the industry image in the eye of the public becomes paramount. The way in which safety and security is applied in addressing human and animal impact on these installations must be approached in a way that is obvious to both the public and wildlife communities equally. Fencing being installed for safety and security in these growth areas is increasing.

Safety and security, that is performed in a manner which will address human, domestic animal, agricultural livestock and wildlife impact on such installations, is an important factor in the eye of the public and will send a message of stewardship including both the environmental and wildlife habitations impact mitigation.

There has been a very steady effort by the renewable energy Industry to establish and improve the public’s image and perception of this new energy development. An area where this effort is most visible is the increasingly obvious installations of infrastructure in and around our communities. These efforts include but are not limited to; solar array build-out of industrial and commercial size sites and site restorations that include native re-seeding of cover and grass crops and ongoing wildlife habitation assessment and impact studies for long term maintenance of infrastructure installations in our communities. The public acceptance of these infrastructure items is a hard-won prize.

There is a product that enhances both the effectiveness and public perception of these efforts that is focused on the most visible and perhaps controversial impact on wildlife, which is the need for fencing that is installed for the Safety and Security of all. That product is the White Tail Fence Marker™. The White Tail Fence Marker™ mimics nature in motion, color, and shape as an alarm and presence indicator to wildlife. The WTFM™ is the same color as, is shaped like, and achieves mimicking the motion of a White Tail Deer reflex action known as “Tail Flagging”™ that White Tail Deer exhibit when alarmed and or indicating the presence of a potential threat.

Other domestic and woodland species likewise are alerted by this “Tail Flagging”™ in their environment. It is a universal and understood signal for flight or attention to a possible threat. The WTFM™ will let wildlife know that the fence is THERE. It is readily seen and recognized by most woodland species and even humans. They will adapt to this presence and easily jump or fly over the obstacle avoiding impact injury and death. The WTFM™ is also being considered as a deterrent to birds being injured by solar and wind sites which according to an article in Forbes magazine is over 10,000 birds every year. These birds are usually birds of prey and migratory waterfowl.

The White Tail Fence Marker™ can be produced in reflective white and other colors, although white is the preferential color to address wildlife impact mitigation. It is made of recycled plastic suitable to resist outdoor environmental conditions, with a printed area for your logo and emergency contact information, which is customized and applied specifically to your order. It has two choices for simple attachment to a typical high tensile fence wire on any manner of typical fencing styles for differing applications.

The WTFM™ is available in 8 inch and 6 inch length designs, is equally effective in each size and can be attached to any fence with a choice of two devices.

The first and recommended device is of a vinyl coated stainless steel woven wire with a crimp locking fastener also made of stainless steel. This device has also been developed for the Solar Energy products installation for outdoor harsh use industrial applications. The cost of this device is more than the standard wire tie. The longevity of this device is exemplary. It may be used in an application with a very low maintenance cost. It is a permanent installation.

The second device is a wire tie that is made of 6/6 Nylon with a recognized ultra-violet ray inhibitor, that was developed for and is used in the Solar Energy products installation exclusively for indoor or outdoor application. The longevity of this attaching device is about 1 to 3 years in an outdoor application without maintenance. This device is suitable for areas of short term or temporary use without maintenance.

The design of the product itself is in the shape and bright white color of a white tail deer’s tail. Being of suitable thickness polypropylene material, 8 inches or 6 inches long with a taper shape. There is a hole pierced in the product to install a stainless-steel grommet and a 130 pound test fishing line swivel also made from stainless steel that give the WTFM™ it’s designed action in a slight breeze to flutter, wave and spin while installed on a fence, mimicking the motion of a white tail deer reflex action known as “Tail Flagging”™

The White Tail Fence Marker™ is available in quantities suitable for any renewable energy infrastructure for industrial, mining, highway, civil, commercial and energy installations such as right of way, access sites and roads, well roads, well site pads, field site installations, storage sites, transmission and gathering pipeline fencing for the purposes of bringing safety and co-habitation with wildlife in our and their environment.

The completed product is robust and of an industrial application grade of construction, giving long service and use with little or no maintenance. The installation is quick and simple, being of a very strong and efficient means. Installation is by the solar equipment grade nylon wire tie or alternatively using the solar equipment grade non-corroding vinyl coated stainless woven wire tie that is of a high industrial grade and is permanent. This method of attachment includes an American made crimping tool when order quantities allow.

We decided that the product should be made of materials and parts that are made in the U.S.A. For example, the 130 pound test stainless-steel swivel is made by the ONLY swivel company in America that has made them since 1926. The stainless-steel grommets are made by an American company that started in a small building in Lower Manhattan in 1852.

All design, testing and manufacturing operations that produce this product and others in our line, from start to finish, are done in the heart of the Appalachia and White Tail Deer Country.

The names White Tail Fence Marker, WTFM™, this article content, and all related articles, art work, images, logos, pictures, publications, methods and processes used or described herein or in other documents or sources owned or produced by Polaris Wildlife Fencing and Safety Devices, LLC, are the property of Polaris Wildlife and Fencing Safety Devices, LLC and are protected by trademark and copyright. This Whitepaper was first published in Northeast O&G Volume 8 Issue 6 of 2018.