Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

[kodiakchicken]

Well, I just got off the phone with our local Fish and Game bear biologist. He called to let me know there's a bear in our neighborhood creating some disturbance. The biologist and I work together on projects and he lives near us, so that's why I got the personal phone call. The bear has been as close as a house about 500 yards away and he got into a guys freezer two streets over. (I asked why the guy had a freezer outside and the biologist just said "don't get me started".)

Anyway, I'm borrowing the portable electric bear fence from my office tonight, but does anyone know anything about do-it-yourself electric fences? I have access to plenty of electrified tape fencing and the posts, but I don't have a charger. I tried googleing the concept and didn't find much. The cheapest charger I can get right now is $75.00 which is a lot and I'd rather find something cheaper.

Any ideas are welcome!

(And yes, we can shoot the bear as a DLP if he gets into the chickens & ducks but knowing he's in the area and not taking preventative measures really wouldn't be very fair to the bear or be a responsible pet owner)

 

[Mahonri]

What a blessing to live in such a wild place.

 

[jkcove08]

There is one other option you can use...... Take a cord from an old lamp and hard wire it straight to the electric frence. The downfall to this is there is no break between the zap. Wired into a 110 will give it a good zap but it should get the idea and leave you alone... I know people that have had to use this option to deter 2 footed predators. Jenn

 

[MissPrissy]

That is a super dangerous method and can kill a child that accidently ran into it. Do not do this. It is the worst kind of danger.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Yeah, I don't want anything that's deadly. I have an 8 year old daughter and two dogs that think it's their job to check on the birds whenever they are out - can't take the chance.

The portable fence I'm going to borrow uses 4 D batteries and actually works quite well. It puts out a good zap (trust me - felt it) but won't do anything but hurt and make your heart jump. I was hoping there was something I could build using a system like that.

Besides, the pulsating electric charge is part of what deters the bears from what everyone I've talked to believes. The believe the bears can sense the electric pulse.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Maybe you can find a used charger. I wouldn't even dare to mess around making one. Electricity is just too scary.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
I agree!!! That's why I was hoping some brilliant chicken lover/electrician would pop on here and tell me exactly what I need to do in great detail.

I'll probably just end up buying one - although I'm not sure where the $$ will come from. It's less expensive that the cost I already have in my birds though, and the heartache losing them would cause.

And I really, really, really don't want to have to shoot or be the cause of a dead bear. My job involves working around them constantly and Kodiak has done such a great job of teaching people to live responsibly with bears. I just can't allow myself to be one of the irresponsible ones. After all - if I don't protect them and he eats them, I'm the one at fault. He's just being a bear.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Well, it really is fairly simple when it comes to fences and deterence. All you need is the hotbox(charger), some wire, and some insulators. You will need to buy a charger.

Are the posts you borrowed metal or plastic? If they are plastic, it makes that much easier.

I'm going to assume they are plastic. Set up the perimeter you want, using the posts. Just string a strand or two of wire between all the posts. Make sure you are within distance of an outlet, because the hotbox(charger) needs to be plugged in(unless it's solar powered).

There will usually be two wing bolts on the front of the charger, usually with symbols next to them. The one symbol with a wire attached to a rod in the ground, is your grounding wire. Simply meaning, you need to attach the wire to a metal rod in the ground, since this is a temporary setup, I would just dig the wire into the ground as far as you can get it.

Now attach a strand of the fence to the other wing bolt and plug your box in. As long as other strands of the fence are touching the wire attached to the box, the fence should be hot.

Do not let the wires(tape) touch anything but the plastic poles, or the fence will become grounded and most of the time ineffective. This may mean, it is time to mow the weeds..

-Kim

 

[kodiakchicken]

Thanks, Kim.

The borrowed fence is a complete set-up, actually sold as a bear protection fence. We use it for field work so I'm familiar with the set-up.

The other stuff I have access to is electrified tape and the pertinent poles (not metal).

The description you give of the charger connection is useful. I think there is a spare charger in the storage unit, but it's not a kind I'm familiar with. I've only ever used the solar panel chargers. I think I could make it work from your description. If not I'll go to the feed store and get a charger this weekend. I can use the field fence until then.

Silly bears - they need to stick to salmon!!!

 

[monarc23]

I believe bears can smell electric fences pulsating but ones who have never experienced the sensation before usually end up touching it anyhow until they get the picture. I know my horses when put into a new pasture would nervously smell their way around the pasture with me leading them...it was obvious they knew that's where the ouchies came from. My mom works for a fence company, and she brought home a massive charger....I dont know much about voltage but I know the one she brought home has killed a man (stopped his heart)....and I was medicating a baby goat...the goat back stepped into the wire....and he ofcourse wasnt shocked, but I got blown back by the voltage......wow....felt liek someone beat me in the chest with a baseball bat LOL!

You would not believe, how many people call her up asking to get this high of voltage so they could kill people that entered their property....*jaw drops*...