Outfoxing Pests Proves Profitable

The problem Todd Richmond encountered three years ago wasn’t uncommon to those who raise chickens.

“A fox was getting about one a week,” he said.

Fast-forward to the present, and Richmond has turned that problem into a blossoming enterprise. To protect his chickens from the fox that was tunneling under the surrounding fence, Richmond made a length of galvanized steel with eight-inch rods attached to it at four-inch intervals. He then attached that to the bottom of the fence, securing it to the ground.

Thus, Dig DeFence was born. The product is available online at www.digdefence.com and a dozen co-ops throughout Northwest and central Arkansas. The cost is about $3.99 to $5.99 per 32-inch segment, depending on whether the spikes are eight or 10 inches in length and whether they’re spaced at two- or four-inch intervals.

Richmond said the units can be driven into the ground in less than a minute, and that the main benefit is three-fold.

“It keeps the fence down, your pets or livestock in, and predators out,” said Richmond, an Alma native who now lives near Muldrow, Okla.

The product is manufactured by Southern Steel and Wire in Fort Smith and distributed to 10 states by K & K Veterinary Supply in Tontitown. That still amazes Richmond given the fact he “tried for a about a year to get past secretaries” to introduce his idea to developers.

Richmond’s stroke of luck came when he spotted the phone number of a production studio in Burbank, Calif., in the background of a late-night infomercial. Richmond used his DVR to freeze the picture, then wrote down the number.

He later convinced his wife, Cheri, to call the number. Two weeks after the call, Richmond was contacted by Sullivan Productions and eventually was among 200 inventors invited to audition for “Pitchmen,” a program shown on Discovery Channel.

“I was a wreck,” Richmond said of auditioning. “I was scared to death.”

Nonetheless, Richmond said he finished in the top 10 and expects to be featured when the show airs. According to the Discovery Channel’s Web site, a premiere date for the second season hasn’t been set.

Richmond said he also remains in talks with other companies in hopes of landing his own infomercial, which likely would result in significantly higher production and wider distribution of his product.