Alternatives to Bullets

[MeepBeep]

Shoot - shovel - shut up

What about the losses when the new preds come into the territory?  

Few are saying don't provide any barriers to slow down the predators, instead most say don't depend on barriers to prevent loses...

So in your instance when the next predator appears he to gets removed as soon as he is noticed before they have a chance to push against the barriers for a weakness...

 

[alibabba]

This is not a big bad danger but if you have a piece of brush lets say that is too close to the fence a spark may and in some cases will jump from the wire to the dry brush so it can go to ground.

Remember that dry objects are much less attractive to electricity than wet objects are. If this was not so then the prison guard would not put a sponge soaked in salt water under the skull cap thing on the electric chair.

The greatest danger of fire is when someone gets lazy about keeping weeds and brush from growing up under or in among the wires on the fence.

Remember that an electric fence is a dumb machine. You have to think for it because it only follows the laws of nature.

The fire potential is almost nonexistent in most of the country but in the Prairie States or in drought stricken California the danger is greater because of less moisture in the vegetation.

Electric fences are metallic by nature and metal attracts lightning. The danger is mostly to your charging unit because I know I am, and I doubt that you are machesiom enough to grab a working electric and hold on to the sucker for hours during a lighting storm. Most people dispense with the arrester because the shorter the run of fence wire the less likely that your fence will get zapped by a bolt of lightning.

Despite the old wives' tail about lighting only striking once, lighting tends to revisit the same sight over and over.

When there is an open short the fence will arc across that space, this spark or arc is the fire hazard, just like it arcs to a spark plug or to the fox's nose in this video. Note that the electricity didn't lay the fox out ready for the undertaker but that the fox though that the undertaker already had him in his grasp, he keeps his distance and keeps looking back over his shoulder at the chicken coop that "bites" back. This is how electric fences work by training the vermin to stay at arms length from you chickens.

I like the following video because it shows how effective motion activated flashing lights are at deterring foxes and other predators from snacking on your poultry.

Note: Watch the front left corner of the hen coop about, 12 - 15 inches above the ground and watch the night light go crazy. Also foxes can clear a 7 foot fence if it really must have to do it.

Finally here is what happens when the fox eventually breaches your defences.

I personally wouldn't trust some flashing eyes long term. Check the fence every now and then. you will hear when it's shorting and at night see the spark. Turn off fence and make correction. I don't have my electric on during the day and if I have to run out and herd some dummy into the coop in a storm I turn it off.

 

[alibabba]

Tomorrow I will take some pics of my newest run... share with you all the plans for landscaping it. I know, you all can't wait.... Hee Hee Hee.

I'm proud of my work on my runs and the safety and 100% success of the electric so far. Sometimes it's a challenge to configure, agreed?

If anyone has pics of their handiwork...especially creative gates...we should share I think.
These are still working toward the perfection of aesthetics.... which I have not had time for. But I did choose not to dig my yard, have moveable pens, not spend on hardware cloth and construct wooden pens. Just my choice. Hey if I had more land and less neighbors I would have many wooden runs...maybe.. I like light and giving fresh grass. Anywhoo, none of these are landscaped because they move....

 

[alibabba]

S........S........S

Keep in mind that the OP was looking for another option.

ETA. "of which there are multiple choices".

 

[tarajane]

I know, I'm sorry....I will put up electric netting. I am not in to killing ANYTHING...well, spiders. I don't watch killing of animals on TV. BUT if I saw something actually killing my animals my rage would set in and I wouldn't have time for anything but revenge. And yes, I know they have to eat but for God's sake eat something I didn't raise up from a baby. Thank you.

 

[Catnip5]

I know, I'm sorry....I will put up electric netting. I am not in to killing ANYTHING...well, spiders. I don't watch killing of animals on TV. BUT if I saw something actually killing my animals my rage would set in and I wouldn't have time for anything but revenge. And yes, I know they have to eat but for God's sake eat something I didn't raise up from a baby. Thank you.

May I recommend Charlotte's Web? LOL ;-) Never kill a spider in your house - very bad luck ;-) Yes, I was pretty enraged when the fox got my last chicken…said some rather rash things as well but ultimately I would feel horrible if someone shot it. No, my responsibility entirely since I presented the buffet so electric fence is going up.

s…s…s… Thanks to whomever translated that. n….n….n… (never, never, never)

Thanks again all! Loving all the great ideas and feedback!

 

[copper2]

Try live traps! That's how I got rid of some raccoons that were killing my birds

 

[slingshotandLAR]

Try live traps! That's how I got rid of some raccoons that were killing my birds

We are way past that at this point.... Lol


Raccoons are one thing, foxes in a box trap completely different. It takes special consideration to catch a fox in a live trap, it's difficult.

 

[Catnip5]

We are way past that at this point.... Lol


Raccoons are one thing, foxes in a box trap completely different. It takes special consideration to catch a fox in a live trap, it's difficult.

Agreed - this fox seemed to enjoy the dance around it…they are clever alright. Poor baby skunks were complete suckers and easy to catch. Raccoons would be equally easy.

 

[MeepBeep]

Raccoons would be equally easy.  

From my experiences with raccoons, they are a fool me once animal, especially as they get older... If the trap fails the first time, if they see another get caught, or have other experience with traps they become VERY suspicious of traps...

Skunks have horrible vision (they literally can only see a few feet in front of them) but they have a great sense of smell so they are easy to trap, as they mostly ignore visual changes in the surrounding aka the trap all the sudden appearing...