Double overlap welded wire fencing instead of hardware cloth?

[1muttsfan]

A 1" hole is the standard size of chicken wire, and is still big enough for raccoon paws to get through. 1x2" is more than big enough for a small weasel to make it in. I would follow your initial plan and attach hardware cloth to the bottom 2-3' of your run.

 

[bairo]

I like your Idea with the 2x12's
But....Have you thought about 1 inch chicken wire (typically available in 1 inch or 2 inch at you local co-op) It is really cheap at the co-op and you can attach it to the inside of the run for the bottom 36-48 inches and use the 2x12's on the outside. That is close to what I did. I used welded wire for the stiffness it gave and actually used 6 foot tall 1 inch chicken wire on the inside attached to the welded wire with bailing wire from Lowes (you dont have to go with the 6' stuff, I just happened to have some anyway). We also have been building raised bed plant boxes on the outside between the posts. It has worked really well for us and was much cheaper than hardware cloth.