|
Last Spring, on a beautiful April’s morning before school, our 7 year old daughter Jenny ran down the garden to feed her nine pet hens and collect their eggs for breakfast as usual.
Instead of hearing their contented clucking as she approached the run, there was silence and as Jenny moved closer, a scene straight out of a slasher movie unfolded for during the night, a fox had ravaged. All of Jenny’s hens lay dead, a bloody half eaten mess strewn across the run.
She ran screaming back to the house.
During the next week the household was woken each night by screaming as our child’s increasingly vivid nightmares took hold. Something had to be done and after a little discussion, we decided that the best solution would be to replace the hens and have Jenny included in all aspects of setting up a more secure home for her pets.
The next few evenings with Jenny were spent in front of the pc, researching fox behaviour and looking for a solution to keeping the fox at bay. This in itself was helpful in changing Jenny’s perception of the fox; instead of a marauding monster to be scared of she came to see the fox as an opportunistic “dog” that needed to be guarded against.
We learned that electric fencing was a reliable, tried and tested deterrent of the fox as their natural instinct is to “test” a barrier, rather than take a running leap over it. “Knowing” that it’s sensible to look before they leap a fox will climb a fence looking, I assume, for a safe landing area. Or perhaps it will search the perimeter of the fence looking for a weak spot, sniffing around for a way under, over or even through the fence, all of this behaviour makes it likely that the fox will actually come into contact with the fence and receive a shock.
During our research we had come across Electric Fence Online and after browsing through the website “Jenny and I” placed an order for the battery powered
50m Poultry Netting Kit…
Three days later Jenny was helping me erect the fence, fortunately a surprisingly simple process. The
posts were already attached to the
netting and easy to push into the ground,
guy lines to pull everything taught and Jenny shuffling along the base, armed with a mallet and
pegs to pin down any parts of the net where a hollow might let the fox through.
Almost a year later, the fence is working perfectly and Jenny is once more enjoying her pets (and her eggs). We haven’t actually seen a fox testing the fence, but can confirm no more fatalities. We obtained a
2nd battery as they take some time to fully recharge using our
mains charger and we don’t like to leave the netting without power, apart from that no problems to report. Perhaps we’ll invest in a
solar panel to help with the charging.
Thanks Electric Fence Online for selling something that actually does what it says on the box.
Regards
Simon B
One tip… Use the
fence tester that comes with the kit!
I forgot about it and touched the fence to make sure it worked. Not only did I do this, but feeling nothing more than a “strange tingle” I knelt down to check the
energiser connections while still holding the fence. As soon as something other than my insulating Wellingtons was in contact with the ground, I discovered that the fence was working perfectly and taught Jenny a new “bad word” in the process! Bloody Hurts!
|
