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- #11
So here is a similar version of the tape fence, single strand this time. This one is intended more as crowd control........keeping the birds out of a garden area I don't want them in.
In this area I have planted fall crops of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips and tillage radishes. The latter are a cover crop, but serve a duel purpose of being fodder for the birds.......if they would leave it alone long enough to let it grow. But left to their own devices, they won't........they will move in when stuff gets an inch or two high and keep it grubbed to the ground. That is not good for them or me.
So they get fenced out.
Same fence as for the coons, but this time just a single strand of the poly tape, used for visibility vs. light wire. This took about an hour or so to build, most of that time spent pulling together the parts. The actual time spent building it was about 10 to 15 minutes.
For this one I used the speed version, which uses the clip on insulators on the outside corners.....set the steel posts at 45 degrees to the pull and let the tape slide around. The other option is to use the donuts on the inside turns, but is more work. I did use donuts to begin and end the run.
I've never tried it but a person might get away with using the step in posts on the corners.
A problem showed up with this fence. When I turned the fencer on, I kept hearing "snap, snap, snap". That meant a short somewhere, but where? I looked but found nothing. So followed my ear to these insulators? What was wrong here? Voltage is cranked up so high the current was jumping about 1/4" through the air to short out to the corner posts. That is called "induction" and works the same was as a spark plug does. Voltage is cranked up so high it will jump through the air to ground. It is a sign of a really HOT fence.
Reason I was getting a spark was because the post was not set at a prefect 45 degrees. I moved the tape up to the middle of the insulator to be better shielded, but if it doesn't work, may have to either reset the post, or go back to the donuts on the inside turn.
Built a jumper gate to tie it to the main fence:
Hoping I can mow under this, but if not, it is a quick disconnect. Main fence stays on when the gate is down. I also flagged it so nobody.....including me......would not see the wire and walk into it.
Lastly, once built, I gave it a test.
That is still on the same charge from about 45 days ago. Still running HOT!
You might not think that a fence of this type would work for birds, but it does. I turned the birds in and as they approached, a couple stopped to stare, but most recognized it for what it is and moved on to safer places. They have all tangled with one of these before. Usually, they walk up to it and step on the fence to go over. You can tell when they get zapped as they (usually on the bottom of their foot) launch about 5 feet in the air. Cackle that follows is a bit like the egg song. But once bitten, they tend to avoid it.
Some say even this single strand will work for varmints too. But for those, I'd prefer a 2nd strand, which would take no more than 10 minutes to install. With two strands, they are almost certain to try crawling through it and will get zapped in the process.
In this area I have planted fall crops of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips and tillage radishes. The latter are a cover crop, but serve a duel purpose of being fodder for the birds.......if they would leave it alone long enough to let it grow. But left to their own devices, they won't........they will move in when stuff gets an inch or two high and keep it grubbed to the ground. That is not good for them or me.
So they get fenced out.
Same fence as for the coons, but this time just a single strand of the poly tape, used for visibility vs. light wire. This took about an hour or so to build, most of that time spent pulling together the parts. The actual time spent building it was about 10 to 15 minutes.
For this one I used the speed version, which uses the clip on insulators on the outside corners.....set the steel posts at 45 degrees to the pull and let the tape slide around. The other option is to use the donuts on the inside turns, but is more work. I did use donuts to begin and end the run.
I've never tried it but a person might get away with using the step in posts on the corners.
A problem showed up with this fence. When I turned the fencer on, I kept hearing "snap, snap, snap". That meant a short somewhere, but where? I looked but found nothing. So followed my ear to these insulators? What was wrong here? Voltage is cranked up so high the current was jumping about 1/4" through the air to short out to the corner posts. That is called "induction" and works the same was as a spark plug does. Voltage is cranked up so high it will jump through the air to ground. It is a sign of a really HOT fence.
Reason I was getting a spark was because the post was not set at a prefect 45 degrees. I moved the tape up to the middle of the insulator to be better shielded, but if it doesn't work, may have to either reset the post, or go back to the donuts on the inside turn.
Built a jumper gate to tie it to the main fence:
Hoping I can mow under this, but if not, it is a quick disconnect. Main fence stays on when the gate is down. I also flagged it so nobody.....including me......would not see the wire and walk into it.
Lastly, once built, I gave it a test.
That is still on the same charge from about 45 days ago. Still running HOT!
You might not think that a fence of this type would work for birds, but it does. I turned the birds in and as they approached, a couple stopped to stare, but most recognized it for what it is and moved on to safer places. They have all tangled with one of these before. Usually, they walk up to it and step on the fence to go over. You can tell when they get zapped as they (usually on the bottom of their foot) launch about 5 feet in the air. Cackle that follows is a bit like the egg song. But once bitten, they tend to avoid it.
Some say even this single strand will work for varmints too. But for those, I'd prefer a 2nd strand, which would take no more than 10 minutes to install. With two strands, they are almost certain to try crawling through it and will get zapped in the process.
