Electrified with and birds.


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Old 05-09-19, 08:14 PM
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Electrified with and birds.

I want to protect my veggies and fruit trees from squirrels and raccoons. Want to run an electrified wire around the beds and around the trunks of the trees. Problem - I can run the wire up the tree and connect to the next tree high enough that I can walk beneath. Birds are tiny. I deal with them with bags and barriers - don't want them to be electrocuted. How can I shield the wire between the trees?
 
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Old 05-09-19, 08:29 PM
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Ever seen birds sitting on a telephone pole or electric wire? They only get electricuted if they complete the circuit (voltage goes to ground through them). So if the wire is close to the ground or to plants near the ground, and they contact both at the same time, they will be zapped. My grandfather's wire killed plenty... it was about 6" off the ground to keep racoons out of his sweet corn. But as long as foliage was clear they were fine. Wood won't conduct electricity unless it's raining.

Plenty of people have zapped themselves by doing this sort of thing so I hope you know what you're doing. If you are simply using an electric fence, I doubt it will be hot enough to kill a bird.
 
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Old 05-10-19, 02:30 AM
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The electric wire that is part of my goat's fence does no more than shock whatever makes contact with it. That is part of the charger's job - to deliver non lethal voltage. You use insulators to isolate the wire from anything it might ground out to. There normally is a big selection of them wherever electric fence supplies are sold. That said, I can't imagine an electric fence working to deter birds.
 
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Old 05-10-19, 04:56 AM
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You might have some luck excluding raccoons but you'll test your whits trying to exclude squirrels. One problem with squirrels you will have is that the circuit must be completed for an electric fence to work, and that doesn't happen when they are not touching bare soil. Even on the ground their foot pressure isn't heavy enough in dry weather, on grass to achieve a good ground.

You'll probably shock a couple squirrels at first but they will soon learn to jump over the wires. Effectively wiring a tree will be nearly impossible. You will not only need to run your "shocking" wires but you will likely need to run ground wires as well. To get shocked a squirrel will have to simultaneously touch both wires.

I think your best option will be to totally cage/enclose what you want to protect. Build a framework and cover it with netting.
 
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Old 05-10-19, 05:36 AM
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Besides what our mods have said, what you're trying to do sounds dangerous. Unless you're buying an approved electric fence meant for farming purposes and installed properly you could be endangering life and limb.
 
 

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