I was surprised at how sturdy it really is.  I'll see how well it works to keep animals out of my garden next year.  It is a bit tough to work with, but after a while, you get the hang of it.  After having used this to keep the animals out of my garden, I've removed it......NOT because it didn't work, but because a king snake got caught up in it.  If my grandson hadn't come in to tell me there was a snake in the yard, it would've strangled to death.  Upside, with my daughters help, I was able to cut the mesh from around the snake and other than a few mangled scales, it was ok.....took off like a shot into the woods.