By Paul Savory
Rabbits consume about 150 grams of dry matter per day so a large population can do serious damage to a commercial crop of vegetable crops in a short space of time. The additional consideration is the wastage caused by vegetables being discarded as they do not meet strict consumer requirements due rabbit damage.
Large scale commercial vegetables are difficult and expensive to protect by conventional fencing and the only viable option is to use portable electric fencing.
If you are serious about your gardening, (rabbits love garden vegetables, especially leafy greens) and tired of losing your prize plants to rabbits or just want to keep rabbits out of your yard, then electric rabbit fencing is the perfect solution.
Traditional rabbit fencing usually consists of expensive wire mesh with a portion of that buried underground to stop them burrowing under. These had to be substantial constructions, time consuming and expensive to erect. Luckily, these are no longer necessary.
Effective Electric Fencing can be erected via two methods:-
- Flexinett Electric Netting. This is highly effective, very portable and very easy to use. All netting systems are resource hungry and do require a larger energizer to run an equal distance.
- Parallel wire systems. These require more precise erection but may still be regarded as temporary. They are cheaper and require fewer resources than a netting system.
The efficacy of the two systems may be judged by the results of a trial carried out by the Central Science Laboratory on behalf of the Horticultural Development Council in Cornwall. Both systems proved to be over 95% effective in excluding rabbits and far more effective than the farmers own attempt to protect his cauliflowers. No more than a single rabbit was ever seen in either of the two systems; by contrast, as many as 1 per square meter was seen in the farmers control on any night.
The majority of rabbits touch the live wires of the fence with their noses, receive a shock, and retreat into the harbourage. This created the psychological impression associated with Electric Fences and prevented their return. The sharp sting experienced by rabbits when they touch an electric fence creates a strong psychological imprint on the rabbits' brain that the animal cannot visualise so they are unable to ascertain the outer limits of this barrier. As a result of this, Rabbits were not found to have burrowed under the fences at all and a few were seen to jump through. These could have been eliminated by the use of bait caps to re-enforce the efficacy of the fence. Rabbits seen to touch the fence reacted sharply by retreating into the nearest harbourage and were not seen to test the fence for a second time. The number observed testing the fence will also decrease with time with up to 65% fewer observations in weeks of erecting the fence.
The farmer on whose land the research was conducted estimated that the additional profit arising from subsequent yield increases was sufficient to cover the costs of Electric Fencing in one year and of Electric Netting in two.
Trials to determine the number of years of useful life of electric netting fences were terminated after seven years at the end of which they were working effectively. However, if maintenance is poor or nets are regularly moved, the useful life of the fence will be considerably shortened because of the damage rabbits will do to it by chewing and mechanical damage to the filaments.
Electric netting is purchased as a stand-alone product supplied with posts moulded into the mesh and are normally supplied in 50m lengths. A standard height is 50cm but there are taller 75cm nets available.
Erecting the netting is quick and easy once familiarity is achieved and the only precaution is to ensure the bottom live strand does not come into contact with the ground. These nets are then attached to a suitable energizer. Netting is very resource hungry and requires strong energizers. Research the capacity of the energizer carefully, establish how many nets it will run and then go a bit bigger. A wimpy energiser will result in a wimpy fence.
Line fences are constructed using standard fencing equipment. In addition to the four wires suggested, it is advisable to put a return-earth wire against the ground. This is connected to the earth stake and is not energized. The function of this is to improve the contact between the rabbit and the ground and will increase the effectiveness of the fence. The fence will be further enhanced by utilizing Bait Caps on the fence. These are small absorbent pads in a metal cap. This material is soaked in an attractant such as neat Apple cordial and attached to either type of fence. The rabbit will approach them and use its' nose or tongue to investigate it. Both the nose and tongue are highly enervated and extremely sensitive to stimulation. Both these techniques will increase the effectiveness of the fence.
The majority of Electric fence problems arise from 2 sources, the energizer was inadequate to start with or the underground post being incorrect. Sort those two out and you should have good results. A rusty piece of metal buried a few inches underground is not an adequate earth post. Rust is not a good conductor and the long-term chemical reactions between the soil and metal are the cause of the majority of problems. 12v systems and above require an earth post at least 1m long driven into wet soil to be totally efficient. The greater the soil/metal contact that can be achieved, the easier the current will flow back to the energizer, the stronger the fence will be.
If a good fence is installed and a few criteria are adhered to, the maintenance on an electric fence may be LESS than other fences.
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