Tree in a Cage - Need Advice for Roof

[mel_la_fee]

So, I have a bit of a giant quandary...Giant as in, the size of a crape myrtle that's about 20' tall. I built a giant release cage on my deck (I think it's 9x12x7.5 / 8 or thereabouts). When I say 'I', what I mean is that I paid my sister and her friend to build it for me, hence why I'm not exact on the measurements. My contribution to the project was coming up with the initial design and then stapling and sewing the mesh fencing/wire pieces. The thing is, there's a crape myrtle right in the center. My dream was to knit wire around the tree so that the squirrels could climb the lower branches but not escape out the top, and without damaging the plant.

The thing is, The only mesh wire I have left over right now is very hard to weave between those various branches. I mean, maybe someone could do it, but I certainly haven't been able to. Does anyone have a suggestion for a mesh or wire that would be relatively easy to mold around the tree at the top? Or alternatively, should I just leave it open?

[Chirps]

That's really cool! But am I missing something? The second pic looks like the wire is almost doing what you wanted. Is that because I can only see part of it, and there's a lot more that's still open? You don't want to leave it open or the baby will be out and/or something else will be in. The only thing I can think of is custom cutting pieces to fit around individual trunks, then using zip ties (LOTS of zip ties) or hog rings or whatever to connect them and close gaps/holes. It will be painstaking and frustrating but if you manage to get the pieces to fit around the trunks and can connect them so there are no openings that would be a real work of art!

And as the tree grows you'd have to check for the wire to not shift and pull and create an escape-size gap, but that would be at least a year down the line I would hope. A crepe myrtle that size should be pretty slow-growing?

[Mel1959]

I agree. The only way to secure the cage is to use wire that is secured around each trunk and then secured to the roof wire of the cage. Chicken wire is more pliable, but you would need to use several thicknesses of it to make it sturdy enough where they couldn’t chew through it. You can fold chicken wire much easier than hardware cloth.

We did this once with our release cage, but it was only a single trunk tree. I stapled the hardware cloth to the tree without it affecting the tree. Instead of zip ties I suggest you get a spool of stainless wire. It comes in different gauges. Use the wire to secure the chicken wire to the hardware cloth and maybe even weave it into the folded chicken wire and wrap it around each trunk then twist the ends using needle nosed pliers. Be sure any wire ends are curled and not sticking straight out so the squirrels don’t get poked.

[mel_la_fee]

The second pic looks like the wire is almost doing what you wanted. Is that because I can only see part of it, and there's a lot more that's still open?

Yeah, basically the whole center where all of the branches are splitting off is open. I'm pretty sure crepe myrtles are reasonably slow growers. This guy has been in the backyard for over 20 years, so, I'm not too worried about it opening up the cage anytime soon (once I get it closed off!). I'm just having a devil of a time patch-working the wire up there and I was wondering if there was a gauge that would be safe but still a little more moldable. The stuff I have kills my hands whenever I cut it or try to shape it.

[mel_la_fee]

You can fold chicken wire much easier than hardware cloth.

Ah-- yes, hardware cloth is currently what I have. For the life of me, I couldn't think of that term when I was posting. It sucks to try to shape! Because of how broad the cage sections are I already had to use wire to 'sew' the wire panels together to cover the sides, so I'm familiar with that part, but man, I wish I had something easier to cut and handle.

I don't know if you can really see it, but the concept is a release cage within a release cage. There's a smaller cage that's 2x2x5 in the corner, partially under the roof but pulled out enough for direct sunlight to hit part of it. Babies that have outgrown the indoor cage get moved into it first, and once they're comfortable being outside in general, then I'll open the doors and let them explore the larger cage.

I'm basically creating a 4 step release process.
1. container with heating pad
2.medium sized indoor cage
3. large but still contained outdoor cage
4. Giant outdoor cage

I just need to figure that one section out! Can you recommend a good gauge/size of chicken wire?

[Mel1959]

Ah-- yes, hardware cloth is currently what I have. For the life of me, I couldn't think of that term when I was posting. It sucks to try to shape! Because of how broad the cage sections are I already had to use wire to 'sew' the wire panels together to cover the sides, so I'm familiar with that part, but man, I wish I had something easier to cut and handle.

I don't know if you can really see it, but the concept is a release cage within a release cage. There's a smaller cage that's 2x2x5 in the corner, partially under the roof but pulled out enough for direct sunlight to hit part of it. Babies that have outgrown the indoor cage get moved into it first, and once they're comfortable being outside in general, then I'll open the doors and let them explore the larger cage.

I'm basically creating a 4 step release process.
1. container with heating pad
2.medium sized indoor cage
3. large but still contained outdoor cage
4. Giant outdoor cage

I just need to figure that one section out! Can you recommend a good gauge/size of chicken wire?

I don’t know that there’s different gauges of chicken wire, but you’d have to fold it a couple of times to make the holes small enough and make the wire thick enough so the squirrels couldn’t get out or chew through the wire to get out.