Raccoon in our yard! Tell me about electric fences...

[chickbird]

Quote:
you can put up an electric fence for around 75.00-100.00. can get one at lowes for dogs and shocks are not like the cattle fencing/other;;;;although i and my husband have that kind and have been shocked by it,,,,we just turn ours on at night and off at daybreak. if you get the solar ones they are much more expensive.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:

coons stumble into each others territory all the time they fight and kill each other for mating rights and for food they are best trapped and controlled as a population not as individual animals i.e. you do not trap 1 animal and stop you trap until you stop catching them, then you change/move your traps a little trap another coupla days then you get relief for 6-8 months usually from 1 trapping season to the next I think CO has been reduced to using only cage traps at this point.

 

[ray2310]

If you install a fence that the box plugs into an outlet you could use a light timer to only have the fence electrified at night. Unless a coon is sick it is unlikely it would come around during daylight. I just installed electric fencing around the top of my run last weekend.

 

[bakerjw]

Once when I was 3 years old or so I walked under my dads electric fence and got zapped. Note the use of the word once. Kids learn.

TSC and Lowes both sell 2 mile fence chargers in the $20.00 range. For most needs this is adequate. 1/4 mile of wire runs $15.00. You can buy step in insulated posts, fiberglass poles with adjustable insulators, or nail in insulators if you have a preexisting wooden fence. Then there is the question of ground rods. Typically they say that 3 are required but it depends on the installation. I have a 2 mile charger hooked up to our chicken tractor that measures 6'x12'. For that 1 ground rod is sufficient. I also tie the ground to the fencing of the tractor. Odds are that if ole mister raccoon decides to try to scale the tractor fencing it will make contact with both the hot wire and the grounded fencing. When it discharges it will get a nasty zap and probably will not return.

I also put the Chicklets out in a temporary run until I can get a coop and large run finished for my other 8 girls. The run in encircled 2' high with electric fence starting at 5" or so off of the ground and spaced 6" apart. A pair of neighborhood cats were kind enough to demonstrate to me that it is effective.

Electric fences FTW.