Advice On Electrified Fences

[Abby]

Hi and Happy Holidays,

My understanding is that the intent of an electrified fence is if the animals get zapped once or twice then they learn to stay away fron it. Correct?

We have a recurring problem with a neighbor's cows breaking through our fence to feast on our plants and drink from our pools. Last March one fell into our pool and was half dead when discovered. The neighbor won't do anything about the problem. The other expats (we live in Costa Rica) adjoining his property have the same problem.

The fence has four strings of barbed wire and a wire mesh. The posts are cut tree limbs that dry out and offer little resistance to an animal the size of a cow. The HOA added an electrified fence about two feet inside the barbed fence. I have no idea why it was done this way instead of electrifying the existing fence (we were absent then).

Unfortunately, the electrified fence was not installed where the cows have broken through because it is close to the pool and there was a concern for liability. We need a means of protecting people from the fence while keeping it effective against the cows. Suggestions? FWIW, I grew up in farm country and in my adventurous youth was zapped by electrified fences more than once. I wouldn't want anyone to experience that on my account.

Thanks, Gary

[trader4]

I don't understand this from several perspectives. First is, while I don't expect Costa Rica is the US suburbs, are you saying that you have a HOA development in an area where farmers are allowed to just let cattle run free? That they don't have the responsibility of keeping them contained?

If that is the case, the apparently the HOA put up a barbed wire fence, then put up another electric fence INSIDE it? Why would they not put the electrified fence on the cattle side of the barbed wire? I guess one problem would be that if you did that, you'd possibly expose other people to the electric fence?

Without knowing more about property boundaries, etc hard to come up with any solutions. One though might be to put up an electric fence between the existing barbed wire and the pool and then a second fence to keep people away from it.

But the core problem here is that apparenly people can just let cattle wander anywhere and it's up to everyone else to deal with it? It's obviously easier and more effective for the cattle owner to keep them contained

[CRNG]

On Sun, 9 Dec 2012 10:50:04 -0600, "Abby" wrote in Re Advice On Electrified Fences:

Looks like trouble in paradise.

[gpsman]

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- gpsman

[WW]

Hi and Happy Holidays,

My understanding is that the intent of an electrified fence is if the animals get zapped once or twice then they learn to stay away fron it. Correct?

We have a recurring problem with a neighbor's cows breaking through our fence to feast on our plants and drink from our pools. Last March one fell into our pool and was half dead when discovered. The neighbor won't do anything about the problem. The other expats (we live in Costa Rica) adjoining his property have the same problem.

The fence has four strings of barbed wire and a wire mesh. The posts are cut tree limbs that dry out and offer little resistance to an animal the size of a cow. The HOA added an electrified fence about two feet inside the barbed fence. I have no idea why it was done this way instead of electrifying the existing fence (we were absent then).

Unfortunately, the electrified fence was not installed where the cows have broken through because it is close to the pool and there was a concern for liability. We need a means of protecting people from the fence while keeping it effective against the cows. Suggestions? FWIW, I grew up in farm country and in my adventurous youth was zapped by electrified fences more than once. I wouldn't want anyone to experience that on my account.

Thanks, Gary

Sister in law in Brazil. Brazil rules. If a cow wanders onto your property and the owner does now claim it in 3 days, it is yours to butcher. Free meat. WW

[dpb]

On 12/9/2012 10:50 AM, Abby wrote: ...

Well, to do the barbed wire fence you'd have to put the wire on insulators. Generally, what one would do would be to string a single hot wire either on the top or near the top on the inside. Unless you put up a complete second fence it'll be rather useless.

As for the people, surely they're as smart as the cattle??? (I am still on the farm and an occasional shock is just part of dealing with farm fences--they'll get over it and likely won't do it again).

As for law, you'll have to check on local--in US mainland other than the few western states that still have open range it is the owner's responsibility. Of course, in a place such as you are, you're likely not particularly appreciated by the natives so they're probably not inclined to do more than bare minimum but one would think they wouldn't want to lose animals simply on the basis of the economics of it.

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[NotMe]

Certified electric fences won't kill anyone. City folk who move to the country soon learn which critters bite, which sting and not to p*ss on an electric fence a second time. (I do know a few that were talked into the act more than once but they were your typical politician).

Most farm kids learn the lesson about not p*ssing on electric fences by the age of 6 or 8 a few learn that lesson much earlier. City kids that visit are brought up to speed in short order.

[Your Name]

Bullshit!!! MythBusters disproved that myth.

[mike]

Can't understand why this is a problem. Sounds like free steak dinner to me... Your biggest problem is needing a bigger freezer.

[The Daring Dufas]

We didn't have livestock on the farm I grew up on but my roommate did and I asked him how easily cows got spooked and ran away. I'm wondering if a mechanical "Scare Cow" would work on them. A motion activated noise maker with some sort of waving arms might scare the cows away from the fence. ^_^

TDD

[NotMe]

MythBusters, like most newsmedia and Jerry Springer, are into the entertainment game, nothing more, nothing less.

I saw that episode and could with just a bit of adjustment of conditions have the old boy holding the family jewels in a death grip, deep in pain and rolling on the ground.

BTW I grew up, spending most summers and a lot of winters, on my grandparents working farm. There are a lot of things that city folk/city kids take as gospel that are just not so.

[Dean Hoffman]

How about electrified horse tape? I think it can be had up to

1.5" wide. Some is yellow. It's visible so no one should be surprised by it. Example here: a wooden or plastic fence. Put the tape on the critter side where the horizontal wooden or plastic rails will hide it from the pool side. There are warning signs available that warn of electrified fencing.

[Dean Hoffman]

They would probably get used to it in short order. They'd be taking pictures of each other standing next to it in a couple, three weeks. They remember an electric fence. We had some get out due to a flood. The best way to get them home was through a gate that was normally electrified. They were not going. I don't remember how we got them back in their pasture.

[The Daring Dufas]

A late friend of mine owned a small pizza place and pigeons were getting in and all over the refrigeration and HVAC gear on the roof. He put an owl decoy on the roof and one day I climbed up on the roof and saw a pigeon raping the owl. O_o

TDD

[Wes Groleau]

"Mommy, I can't stop peein'!"

-- my friend's little brother, disproving Mythbusters.

[Harry K]

I had a heifer that was a fence crawling genius - couldn't keep her in. Installed electric fence. That kept her in - except when it was off, grounded, whateer. She would make a regular patrol of that fence sticking her nose almost touching the wire, Knew instantly if it was on or off. If off she was out again.

Harry K

[Bill]

Put up a 3rd non-electrified fence on your side of the electrified fence. That will keep kids and others away from the electrified fence. Place it far enough away so that kids (or others) can't reach through it and touch the electrified fence. Also put up warning signs in every language used in that area.

[NotMe]

Generalizations without support much less validity. Kids get what the system allows and then, if they are fortunate, they go beyond that level.

Your defense of Mythbusters reminds me of the joke about FauxNews and WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant)

Want to keep a WASP un informed ... take away his access to FauxNews. Want to keep him mis-informed ... give it back.

Mythbusters is entertainment not science, get over it.

[dennisgauge]

I expect that the barbed wire fence belongs to the cattle rancher. Otherwis= e it would be trivial to upgrade the fence posts and electrify the beeyotch= .

Just extend the electric fence to wherever it needs to go to protect the pr= operty. Install a THIRD fence to keep people away from the electric fence b= y the pool. Simple.

If keeping people away from the electric fence is such a liability issue, w= hy is keeping people away from the barbed wire fence NOT? Electric fence yo= u get a zap and learn not to go near it. Barbed wire will shred you six way= s from Sunday, and if it's rusty, say hello to Mr. Tetanus.

[Harry K]

Come on out, I'll have myelectric fence running and you can test it yourself. No fair screaming like a girl though. I learned not to do it when my older brother told me to try it about age 6.

Harry K