The time has come to parse out a portion of our little spot on the prairie. Like losing the wild free-roaming buffalo to fenced-off ranch land, it is in its own way sad. A fence is a barrier and counter-hospitality. It says to those “outside”, “Stop, I have put a division between us. Stay out there, you can’t come in. You are not invited. This space in mine.”
Of course, a fence also keeps things within. Certain living creatures that might otherwise seek to roam wild like so many by-gone buffalo, must not do so. We must protect them from the wildness out there. Or we must make sure that they do not become their own possession, but remain ours instead. The fence is a barrier between servitude and instinct like it is a barrier between a criminal and his freedom.
…and if I may be permitted to speak personally, a fence could be used to keep so many furry rascals within my household. Unless one day the gate is accidentally left open.
Oops.
Pondero 
Chris writes: “The fence is a barrier between servitude and instinct”I beg to differ, but there is no servitude in any of the furry creatures in your household.