Has anyone used one ? Which model or specs?
I'm thinking about getting one here at my house to keep the dog in and the bears out of the yard.
Will a regular livestock fencer work ? Or is there a certain power range for bear ?

One of my good friends is a bear management specialist here in MT and she routinely installs electric fence around coops/pens at residences that are being bothered by Grizzlies. They just use a regular livestock unit (not the dog size) and she has outstanding success. Usually one hit is enough and they don't come back to the chicken coop. They also use a type of that 48" orange "barrier fence" like you see in construction zones that has wire woven through it and that works well also. Good luck!

Here is a link to one of the suppliers that they use. She said to be sure and only purchase the type of barrier fence that is positive/negative for every other wire. And to remember that you have to use the whole roll so buy the right size, you can't cut it.

http://www.kencove.com/fence/E...Fencing_products.php

P.S. She is happy to talk with or send you a guide to installation and considerations for bear fencing. Just pm me and I will get you her info.

I use to use one around the garden worked fairly well.

Did have a good size black bear go forward in stead of away from it and stretch a strand of it out for a 100 feet or so.

Hopefully he got shocked the whole way he pulled it.

Now I have built a five foot high permanent fence to keep critters out.

If they start going over that I have the option of adding a couple wires higher and hooking them up to the fencer.

But 3 years so far so good.

I have several from farm type to backpack, they all work will deliver about the same voltage. If you don't use grounding stakes you b=need to run separate grounding wires, the wires need to be clear of brush or grass otherwise they will run your batteries down, need to run several rows from low to 3 or 4 feet closely spaced on the low end to keep the little critters out

This is neat

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pdM9YOYrcbs

Also heard stories of bears getting past fences only to get stuck INSIDE the fence!!

That was cool!

LOL, never underestimate the intelligence of a bear!

I can say after using fence chargers when I had horses it really hurts to get zapped. Especially when I do something stupid like opening a gate then forgetting to remove the hot wire over the top. Touching it with my forehead kind of wakes you up.

I've seen bee keepers that have their hives in the mountains during the summer use electric fences to keep the bears away. I've never seen one destroyed so it must work.

quote:

I've seen bee keepers that have their hives in the mountains during the summer use electric fences to keep the bears away. I've never seen one destroyed so it must work.

I don't know of any hives around here that are not protected by electric fencing.

It is a must if you want to keep your hives intact.

Like most bear deterrents a very determined bear well go through a lot of them.

The one at work has been doing a spectacular job. As long as a bear doesn't push a sapling over on top of it . It should keep working well.

As mentioned above, horses are ultra sensitive to electricity.

The key to any electric fence, besides the unit, is to have a good ground rod. Thicker wires carry more amps. While not the best solution, you can use PVC, cut and wired up as insulators, if you don't have/buy the size you need. For instance, turning a corner, take a fairly thick walled (Sch 40) piece of PVC pipe, cut a short length, drill holes thru both ends, run wire thru both holes in one end and tie to corner post, run wire thru both holes in other end, making a loop, and either run hot wire thru loop or make loop around hot wire.

It's important to keep grass and weed growth from shorting your hot out.

I would not bet on a fence turning a bear, but it will probably get his attention. We're short on bears in my part of Texas.

As long as it will keep the bears Out , and the dogs In. It will be great.
Had to fill in a hole a bear dug last night/this morning at work at an inside corner stake. It had mined out about 2' from the old ground line .

quote:

:Also heard stories of bears getting past fences only to get stuck INSIDE the fence!!

A guy I use to hunt with told me a story about a summer job he had in college. He was working for a researcher at the Univ. of Illinois. The research plots were planted to sweet corn. His job was before dark each night to turn on the electric fence to keep coons out. One night he was partying and forgot to turn the fence on. He went out in the middle of the night to turn the fence on. When he went to work the next morning the researchers asked he when he turned the fence on. He fessed up and then asked them how they knew. They told him there was a dozen coons lined up waiting to be released in the morning!

Electric fences work to protect bee yards as long as it is on and charged. The smell of honey is strong enough attraction for bears to regularly test the fence. If a bear gets in they can really wreck havoc with bee hives.

Tom

My folks in Montana put up the electric fence every year to protect the garden and the flowers.

Each year they educate the new deer crop by placing strips of aluminum foil about 20 feet apart and painting the foil with peanut butter.

Makes for a pretty entertaining evening. The deer get their nose right up to it, the tongue darts out, the deer's legs go straight out to the sides and it levitates back about 10 feet. It stands there and shakes its head a couple of times before darting off into the hay field to stand and stare at the fence for a few minutes.

After they all get hit, my folks don't bother turning it on for the rest of the summer. A perfect situation. Doesn't hurt the deer, and my parents get to eat from the garden.

Jeremy

I heard that the electric fences only keep the honest bears out.

I appreciate all the replies so far. Thanks!