Complications Using Hotwire to Repel Predators

[The Moonshiner]

A physical fence is just that. Most predators encounter physical fences all the time and learn to pass through, over or under them as easily as wind and water.

You make it sound as if a regular fence is pretty much useless. I cant agree with that. Yes wildlife can get past a fence if they really want to. Im in farm land so I regularly seen deer, coyotes and such cross fence lines but thats usually barb wire and field fence that stretches on for a long way. Thats a bit different then a fence around my yard. With it they just go around it and into the fields or woods. Before this fence we had coyotes and foxes going across behind the house all the time and dogs strolling by deciding to take a quick detour and check out what was in our yard. All of that has stopped. We may have had a fox or coyote go through before our dogs started staying out over nights but ive not seen one and before id seen them all the time. We have not had any dogs inside the fence. Sure they could figure out how if they had to but they dont try or want to. Its one thing to stop by with no fence but a whole other to come by see the fence and decide to jump it or dig under just to check things out. Wildlife follow the fence then cut through the back pasture.
Yes if a coyote or fox is hungry enough they could figure something out but now our fence is one of two main defenses. The second are our dogs. So now with dogs on our side its pretty unlikely that any of the non flying threats are going to see the fence, figure out how to get passed it just to be in reach of three decent sized dogs that enjoys a good rumble every now and again.
A fence is just a fence be it regular or electric and is a line of defense. Neither are useless and neither are any wheres near full proof. I wont rely on any fence to be our only protection from predators. Our 4' goat fence does well and it combined with dogs does a really well job.
Predators arent raining in or blowing thru like the rain and the wind.

 

[Howard E]

The two physical fences I have out back include a 4' chain link fence that I've seen cats, coons, skunks and possums go under so fast they hardly slow down. Gap between the fence and dirt beneath it is nominal........less than an inch in most places......but not in all places. Varmints know where those places are where there is a 2 or 3 inch gap and ooze under it there so fast they hardly slow down.
The other fence is a 42' woven wire livestock fence, with twisted pair of #12 wires on top. This is the horse pasture fence. That barely keeps the horses in........they like to reach over and ride it down for whatever they can reach on the other side. I tracked a coyote through it last winter.......went straight through it....not under it or over it,......through it......went in one side of the pasture and out the other. That fence imposes no impediment at all to the smaller varmints.
On the horse fence, I have had the owner of the horses.......next door neighbor with horses and the Amish lad that comes to shoe the horses tell me if I want to stop them from riding the fence down, to make the top wire hot. They won't respect the physical fence, but will if it is hot. I do know they won't go withing a foot or two of the single strand of poly tape I put up as temp fence to let them graze outside the physical fenced area.
Electric livestock fences work exceptionally well. I've never built one that didn't.....and that included a single wire around an 80 acre corn field that kept in a whole herd of cattle all winter. But all electric fences must be maintained. I've seen electric fences left to grow up in brush so thick you could hardly see it. I'd imagine that was shorted out and was no longer shocking.....as would be a fence where an animal has hit it and knocked the wires off to the ground or left to short out to the fence post. That type of fence is no fence at all either.
And in addition to being maintained, it has to be built with the target audience in mind. What I would build for cattle or horses is entirely different than for the chickens and varmints that stalk them. But the concept is the same. Put a truly hot wire in their path, set up in such a way it is almost impossible for them to avoid bumping in to it as they try to pass and them getting zapped good and hard in the process. Then keep that fence maintained so it stays hot and let it do it's job......and 99.9% of the time.....it will.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A large and brilliant blue frame accompanied by a loud POP should be evident EVERY-TIME that anything comes into contact with the electric fence. It also should be powerful enough that the electricity will jump say one inch to a good ground source. Anything less is nothing but a medical stimulation devise.

In arid areas, a spark jumping around or past an insulator to ground creates a fire hazard, especially when powder dry weeds or grass is present.

Don't forget to install a good grounding rod within a couple of feet of the fence charger.

The more arid your location is the more you will need a good ground rod on your fence.

A passable fence charger can be fashioned from a 120V screw in light fixture and a old fashion light bulb. The power output can be varied by swapping the light bulb out. The higher wattage the bulb, the stronger the shock. Don't do this because there is no pulse rather there is a constant current. The thing that makes an electric fence safe even for a child is the short pulses that tends to knock anything that comes into contact with the hot wire away before the next Joule or jolt is delivered.
Previously I have recounted using the shock from an electric fence to alleviate pain. That was only possible for me to do because in the fall the earth was dry and the electrical potential of the dry dirt I was standing on was low. So don't neglect to ground your charger well.

 

[Cock A Doodle Doo]

With having the kids, you might want to put the fence on a timer. Typically most predators are nocturnal, so you can run the fence when the kids are in the house for the night.

I wish my dad thought of that one. Ours was the type that would burn the growing weeds. And it took a few jolts to learn our lesson.
...and of course, it was always funny if it was someone else that got shocked.