Animals

animals can cause serious damage in the vineyard, most obviously but not exclusively by eating grapes and foliage. Any reductions in foliage can prejudice fruit ripening and wine quality, and encourage sunburn.

Most mammals may be kept out by fencing, but fences have to be sunk into the soil for smaller, burrowing animals, and high and cantilevered for animals as large and mobile as kangaroos. Deer, rabbits, rodents, raccoons, and wild boar are some of the most common vineyard animal pests, but baboons can pose a threat in South Africa and ethiopia, as can monkeys in japan, hippos in Ethiopia, bears in Canada, kangaroos in Australia, and badgers in the UK, while rattlesnakes can present a danger to vineyard workers. Some vine-growers in New Zealand, on the other hand, deliberately use a combination of electric fencing and sheep to achieve judicious leaf removal. Animals of relevance to wine production other than horses are referred to in vine pests.