Keeping animals off pool cover

[trishalinn]

Hey there!

I posted quite a while back about a mystery tear in our Coverstar pool cover just months after it was installed. We had it patched and have done fine with it until this fall when we had another mystery tear in a totally different place.

The pool guy and the coverstar guy both came to look at the initial tear and said it must be vandalism (extremely unlikely where we live).

We have been baffled, however recently came up with a theory. After looking outside at our snow covered pool and seeing tracks all over the area, we wonder if it may be an animal that’s walked out on the cover and created the tears. No idea what kind of animal it would be, but I’ve seen lots of deer and foxes in our yard. There’s certainly other critters I just haven’t seen.

If it IS an animal, how do we keep the animals off our cover so it doesn’t happen again? We don’t want to build a fence (one of the big reasons we got the cover). Any ideas?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

How about tossing a large fake snake into the middle of the cover, just to see if that is a deterrent? I've had squirrels run across my cover and I worry about their claws, but I've never seen any damage...thank god!

Maddie

 

[JamesW]

I remember this one.

Probably need to get a camera to see what's happening.

Maybe get a motion detector and connect it to something that turns on lights and makes noise.

 

[Newdude]

Deer can easily be big enough to cause rips, so could a lost Moose / Caribou that traveled too far south. Squirrels or raccoons could cause rips if they dug in for traction with their claws.

A fence won't stop anything but the Moose, even at 8 ft the other animals will lol as they leap/climb it.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

A fence won't stop anything but the Moose, even at 8 ft the other animals will lol as they leap/climb it.

Well aren't you the party pooper, Newdude?!?

What about bunching up some of that orange construction fencing to fill up the space...maybe it would discourage them? Keep a light on over the pool maybe?? Camera for sure!

Move? <sorry...can't think of anything else>

Maddie

 

[Newdude]

Well aren't you the party pooper, Newdude?!?

Just stating the not so obvious to anyone whose never seen a deer do a standing still jump over a 5 ft fence. With a running start them suckers might as well be superman. And the squirrels/raccoons can climb better than Spiderman. A fence seems like an awesome idea. It does. But it won't help.