Good, Bad, Ugly

There are good ways and bad ways to test the zapping strength of an electric fence. Many of the bad ways are found out the hard way by trial and error or by slipping as you are stepping over the said fence.

I vividly remember using a shovel handle to hold the wire down while stepping over a fence, the wooden handle doesn’t conduct electricity and all should have been good. Except for the wire slipping down to the metal cuff near the blade that was touching the ground and I got the full shock of the fence several times before the realization of my error.

Once a brother-in-law tangled one foot in an electrified three wire fence as he was stepping over, the pulsing shocks surprised him and he fell with his foot still twisted in the middle wire. Each pulse sent a stifled scream from his lips and would cause him to jerk his hands away from the task of extricating himself from the tangle. Onlookers, oh yes there were onlookers, ogled the horrific scene with bemusement knowing that he was not being permanently injured from the painful sequence, and not willing to help in the situation.

I have heard of stories of boys testing the strength of electric fences by peeing on them and seeing if the shock travels up the stream. The answer is yes, yes it does, and  while nobody will admit that they actually conducted this experiment, I can tell you that no adult male will ever try this stunt so I am assuming that some one did try.

Those same boys, did I say same? I mean, I heard some kids liked to wrap snakes around the top of metal poles to see what happens when the snake slithers down and makes contact with both the pole and wire thus getting zapped before falling into a heap on the dirt. (I didn’t see it, I’m only the reporter. I do not condone cruelty to animals…except those coyotes that pester our cattle and barn cats, the rats and mice that invade our haystacks, the raccoons that denude my fruit trees, the bears that scratch and tear up the bark on our 40 year old fir trees, the flock of robins that love my strawberries before I can harvest them, the jaybirds and gray squirrels that steal my entire filbert crop, and that pesky skunk that keeps trying to steal the cat food.)

And even with knowing the power behind an electric fence, I have been known to turn my head to talk or see what I going on instead of paying attention to actually grabbing the insulated handle on an electrified gate and snatching up a bare wire instead. That error only lasts for one pulse, and one would think that it would only happen one time but it seems to reoccur about once a year to remind me of the power behind the fence.

The list for good ways to test a fence seems a little shorter.

There are actual handheld devices that can give you the reading of the shock of a fence to know exactly how hot it is. I have never owned or tried one of these devices because anytime someone wanted to show me how easy it was, they could never find where they had stored it.

I like to use a long blade of fresh grass preferably at least twelve inches long. Holding one end and setting the far end of the grass on the fence and slowly moving closer, the electricity can be felt in the palm of your hand without it being so hot that it causes pain. The closer one gets to the fence before it can be felt tells you how strong the current is.

The same principle applies with a long handled screwdriver. Holding the insulated handle of the screwdriver with the electric wire at the base of the handle and touching the tip to a metal t-post creates a static arc of electricity if the fence is hot.

The easiest way to tell if a fence is working or not is to watch the cows. They will not touch the fence if it has a charge to it. Even the little calves seem to figure it out quickly and will be happy to play with the wires if there is no electricity running through the fence. I’m not sure how they do this, but they seem to be smarter than humans (or at least this human) when it comes to electricity.

Thank you so much for supporting our stories. We appreciate every reader we have and love it when you spread the word about SchmidlinAngusFarms, fill out the FOLLOW information so you get each story right to your email each day and/or leave comments about the stories. I would also like to take a moment to thank those who click on the icon to do shopping with the affiliate, your clicks give me credit for directing people to their site and sometimes I get a small commission from your purchases without a cost to you! As always, Prime and special codes work with the icon and you do not have to purchase any item that I promote.  Please consider using my link to shop cyber Monday. Thank you for your support