Exactly what I expected and wanted. I was looking for some discreet border fencing to put along my flowerbeds and walkways to hold holiday lights. Discreet is right. These are barely noticeable. The pieces are 18 inches total, but only about 12 inches is above ground. One of my main concerns, and why I wanted a thin, easy to bend metal, is my soil. It has a lot of rocks. A lot. They are impossible to avoid. I was able to bend the legs to go in the ground while avoiding rocks without having to move the whole fence piece and mess up the line. It's perfect. The pieces come pre-attached. They can be easy or not as easy to separate depending on the piece, but I 100% appreciated the pre-linking. It took much less time to put them up. The good thing about the thin wire is that it can be bent to make/follow a curve or bypass an obstacle and cut without power tools to fit your space if need be.-- Do they work? Yes, for me and my simple purpose of stringing holiday lights through them.-- Are they sturdy? Yes and no. Yes, they went into the ground (softened by rain) without issue and are standing up as expected. But no, they're not "sturdy" in the way that they couldn't be bent up by a toddler.-- Can animals get past it? Yes, of course.-- What kind of animals? Depends on the size and agility of the animal. It's a border fence, not a privacy or security fence. It's mostly for flowerbeds and decorative purposes. If the animal or person is able to step or push over a 1 foot tall barrier that's as thick as a piece of cardboard, then they can go past this fence if they want to. If the spaces are too far apart and something small is getting through, line up 1 row of fence, then line up another directly behind it and offset the pieces to close the gaps. Zip tie the rows together and you're good.-- Is this a long-term border? Possibly. Over time, the legs will rust and weaken depending on the amount of moisture in the dirt. The fence will start leaning due to wind and its own weight. If you want this "cheap fix" to last longer, you can always double up your fence pieces to thicken them and add stability. Zip tie a 2nd row directly behind the first row.If you go through the reviews, most of the negative posts are from people who didn't pay attention to the measurements that are given in the title, product info, and then again for all the customers asking "what are the measurements?" in the questions section and/or from people expecting professional border fencing for little money. That's not the seller's or the product's fault. You can tell by the product pictures that the metal is thin. You can also tell by the info given (taken with a grain of salt bc sellers are trying to sell you a product). Ultimately, if you're still not sure after reading the product info, seeing the pictures, and reading reviews... look at the price. You're paying for cheap fencing and you're getting cheap fencing. Online shopping is easy. Don't make it hard.