snake fence

English

Snake fence in Grey County, Ontario, Canada

Noun

snake fence (plural snake fences)

1. (US, Canada) A zigzag fence built from interlocking split logs or young trees, not secured with nails.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, “Beginnings”, in The Book of Small:

     Snake fences were extravagant in land and in wood, but wood and land were cheaper in Canada in early days than were nails and hinges.

   • 2011, Guy Vanderhaeghe, chapter 22, in A Good Man, McClelland & Stewart:

     A breaker of green uniforms plunges down the slope of Lime Ridge, curls around sugar bushes and thickets, cascades over stone walls and snake fences, as the Fenians come howling down on them, rifles snapping.

Synonyms

• split rail fence
• Virginia rail fence
• worm fence