What is a Snake Rail Fence?

A snake rail fence is a protective structure made of interlocking rails in a zigzag fashion. Snake rail fences are perfect installations for places where there is shallow soil depth.

Snake rail fences are free-standing fences that can be built using very few equipment. Simply take an axe and split a ten-foot-long log to make rails. Lay them in an interwoven fashion on the ground. There are absolutely no joints to cut or postholes to dig.

As it is not permanently attached to the ground, a snake rail fence can easily be moved from one place to another. An opening can also be constructed at any point of the fence. It is advisable to raise each snake rail fence intersection up on a rock or boulder. Once the snake rail fence reaches a 10-rail height, it can become unbalanced but it can still be raised by installing crossed rails and riders at every "lock" or junction. Tall snake rail fences are preferred when used as protective enclosures for large animals such as horses.

Special features of a snake rail fence

The snake rail fence originated from hand-split logs used to construct fences. If you're looking for the historical and rustic look of Early America, then the snake rail fence is just right. Logs from traditional wood fencing were not tapered or sewn but cut with a log-splitting machine, giving them an authentic hand-split look. Snake rail fences are also called Virginia fences because they were most often used in properties located in Virginia and West Virginia.

The zigs and zags of the snake rail fences of today have a side where it's difficult to plow and plant in. These areas thus become asylums for wildflowers and birds. This is why even if these hard-to-reach corners could not be maintained, there are bound to be seeds strewn in those places. It is said that the best tobacco and corn varieties were handpicked because they grew in these crannies.

Snake rail fence frames

The snake rail fence was unfamiliar to the English, who were used to structures that made use of upright posts having perforated holes through which the horizontal logs would pass -- similar to the structure of the houses, windows and doors that the Englishmen were used to. This was also the way they built fences, and not in a fashion employed in snake rail fence building.

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