Electric fence - netting type

[StinkyAcres]

In my photos you can see that the netting is far enough away from the metal t-posts that it will cause no issues with shorting.

 

[LuciferRoo]

Electric fencing and electric netting are two different things. With either, you have to have a "hot wire" and a "ground". The critter is shocked when it closes the circuit between the hot and ground.

With the Premier electric netting, all horizontal wires are "hot" except the one nearest the ground. You drive a metal stake into the soil and connect it to the ground side of the energizer. So when a critter touches the soil and a hot wire at the same time it gets shocked.

Electric fencing can be configured different ways. The basic idea is to stretch hot wires horizontally at different heights. These wires are supported using insulators to avoid grounding them out. You normally drive a metal stake into the soil similar to the netting to provide the ground. If you are trying to contain animals like sheep, horses, pigs, or cattle that's all you need. It will keep the animals in but will not prevent smaller animals like dogs, fox, raccoons, or such from going through the fence. I've seen many electric fences for horses or cattle that consist of one hot wire up high.

A common configuration to keep smaller animals that can climb out (think of raccoons and a garden) is to use a metal mesh fence they can't go through and use two or three hot wires, one really low to keep them from going under the fence and another up high to keep them from going over the fence. The hot wires have to be insulated from the metal mesh fencing or they will ground out. If you drive a stake in the soil to use as a ground your wire mesh fencing is probably also a ground if it is touching the soil but you can also attach a grounding cable directly to the wire electric mesh.


Excellent point, one I missed mentioning. I use non-conductive posts or trimmed wooden branches to raise the netting hot wires off of the soil.

FYI, wood will conduct electricity when wet, that includes when it's green.
Or to be more accurate, wood can absorb moisture which in turn will conduct electricity.
Not nearly as efficiently as metal but depending on where you live wood may or may not be a good idea.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Not sure why I've been ignored..but T-posts are inexpensive and work great to reinforce netting as long as you use insulators or other things to keep the netting off the metal.

The key with electric netting is reinforcing the ends and corners. If you have solid posts at the corners you can pull the netting tight and sagging will be much less of an issue.