Electric Fence Basics

[Howard E]

It depends on how much history there is with the animal and food. In most cases, it's all gain and no pain. These coons had been having a good time in the apple trees......and apparently for more than just apples. Videos show them grazing on the ground too....apparently for dead and fallen japanese beetles. But were also in the trees.....and eating both. They continue to come around for the beetles on the ground, but are leaving my trees alone. But they continue to assault neighbor's apple trees, which are not protected......so continue to test mine too.

All coon traffic in the sweet corn patch has come to a halt. Days with no visits. It starts with a shock....(purpose of using the bait can).....they return next night to find the fence still up.......but within a day or so, give up and move on. All pain and no gain.

Best to assume that varmints will always be around.......those you have now, and those that will come along to replace them. But if they always meet the same end.......they try......they get shocked......they learn to leave this house alone. That's how an electric fence works. Always on guard and ready to dish it out. All pain......no gain.

 

[nao57]

For a laugh, I found this;

 

[Howard E]

So kid in the middle on the wooden table was not getting shocked. Wood is not a good insulator, but apparently good enough. Point being....if a hot wire is put on a wooden fence, and the animal is climbing on the wooden fence, they may be insulated and not get shocked even if they touch the hot wire.

Go back to the video of the coon getting shocked touching the garbage can. The cement floor was not doing a good job as earth ground (tested shock was weak), so a section of 1" x 2" woven wire was put down and that was connected to the earth ground on the fence charger. Coon standing on the wire grid when touching the can got him. Also look close and you will notice the can is sitting on some plastic strips (plastic trim boards for buildings), so can is insulated from earth ground field it is sitting upon.

To mimic this with a wooden fence, just below your hot wire (set even with top of fence on stand off insulators), you could run a short strip of wire fence of some type.....even chicken wire.....that could be nailed to the wooden fence, preferably standing off at least 1/2".....so varmint would be clinging to the earth grounded chicken wire when it touches the hot wire above it.

 

[nao57]

So kid in the middle on the wooden table was not getting shocked. Wood is not a good insulator, but apparently good enough. Point being....if a hot wire is put on a wooden fence, and the animal is climbing on the wooden fence, they may be insulated and not get shocked even if they touch the hot wire.

Go back to the video of the coon getting shocked touching the garbage can. The cement floor was not doing a good job as earth ground (tested shock was weak), so a section of 1" x 2" woven wire was put down and that was connected to the earth ground on the fence charger. Coon standing on the wire grid when touching the can got him. Also look close and you will notice the can is sitting on some plastic strips (plastic trim boards for buildings), so can is insulated from earth ground field it is sitting upon.

To mimic this with a wooden fence, just below your hot wire (set even with top of fence on stand off insulators), you could run a short strip of wire fence of some type.....even chicken wire.....that could be nailed to the wooden fence, preferably standing off at least 1/2".....so varmint would be clinging to the earth grounded chicken wire when it touches the hot wire above it.

So we need to level up our shocking small animals skills. LOL. Just kidding!

 

[nao57]

Fencers work as two circuits. The HOT wire, and earth ground.....which is not hot....it is simply the pathway back to the fence charger to connect the circuit. Think of the animal as the switch. They touch the hot wire, while standing on the earth ground, the juice flows from hot wire, through the switch (animal), back to ground. Animal feels low amp, high voltage current as a painful electric shock. Painful enough they do not want to repeat it, so quickly learn to avoid it. So no.....while fencer is on, you can grab the earth ground (connected to soil you stand upon) and not get shocked. It's the HOT wire you gotta look out for.

I am using 12 volt, Group 24 Deep Cycle marine battery (1) (Cost $75 to $100) on these 12 volt fence chargers. A good battery on a full charge, with nothing to short out the fence, will keep the fence hot for 45 to 60 days. It then gets charged overnight and good for another month or two.

For a permanent fence, where the fence charger can be kept in a weather protected setting, you could use a less expensive and more powerful AC charger. I use 12 volt chargers as they are portable, and can be placed outdoors in any weather, with no covering.

So if I use a really powerful battery, compared to a small battery, it won't hurt anyone right?

Is it correct to think that even with a really good battery the shock won't become too much?

Thanks.

 

[cmom]

Your fence charger will determine how much of a shock the predator gets. If you get like a .1 it will be more like a bee sting. If you get something like a 1.+ you will definitely get more of a shock.

 

[cmom]

The whole point to the electric wires or fence is that you want the predator to know it's there and not want to test is again. I have never found a dead predator because of my electric wires. Shortly I first put them up I heard predators that discovered them. For awhile I have been seeing a skinny fox. I think it is a young one now on it's own. I think it tested the wires several nights ago. I heard something around midnight and I'm pretty sure it was the fox testing them out.

 

[Howard E]

My fencers are 3 joules and put out some nasty jolt. Sparks fly. This is a high voltage, low amp shock. Painful......about 100X worse than the worst static electric shock you ever felt, but just as harmless.

Varmints get it, dogs and cats and chickens get zapped. Kids dumb enough to touch it once get it. All walk away from it unharmed. Will occasionally hear of someone with a dead snake, turtle, etc, that gets hung up in a fence or possibly poultry netting and turns up dead, but it's rare.

Goal is all pain and no gain......which turns the risk / reward factor in your favor. It's like the goats blood was over the door at Passover. It is what signals death to pass you by.

 

[Howard E]

BTW, sweet corn shown in video in post #29 remains intact. Harvest of first wave is winding up.....2nd planting has silked and is filling. Tassels on 3rd planting are peeking.

Coon traffic surrounding the patch has dwindled to nothing. Like Cmom's chicken coops and runs.......all pain and no gain will do that.

 

[nao57]

Your fence charger will determine how much of a shock the predator gets. If you get like a .1 it will be more like a bee sting. If you get something like a 1.+ you will definitely get more of a shock.

So if its a scale of 0.1 to 1.X+...

What would be the ideal setting to ...still keep whatever it is alive, and not have them come back ever?