Can animals hear an electric fence?

[Trish1974]

Not sure where to post this question, but it seems this forum is where electric fence gets talked about the most. Anyway, I'm just wondering if animals can hear the current going through an electric fence? I don't mean if its snapping against a weed...just in general when it is quiet to us is there a sound the current makes as its traveling down the line that animals can hear?

I ask this because a few weeks ago I had construction done on my barn, and since the electric fence runs into the barn where it connects to the charger it had to be disconnected. The same day I was going to reconnect the fence, I saw a fox circling the chicken run. We have so much fox activity this time of year, I was surprised I hadn't seen one that close before then. So did that sneaky fox somehow know the e-fence wasn't on? Then this morning, I heard the flock setting off an alarm call. I went to the window to find a few deer wandering through (the e-fence was on at the time), and a curious doe slowly walked towards the run where my rooster was pressed up against the wire fence like he was going to take her on. She stretched out like she was going to sniff him and when her nose got about three inches from the hot wire, she turned and walked away. So I'm just wondering...is the electric fence an audible deterrent as well as a physical deterrent?

 

[R2elk]

Not sure where to post this question, but it seems this forum is where electric fence gets talked about the most. Anyway, I'm just wondering if animals can hear the current going through an electric fence? I don't mean if its snapping against a weed...just in general when it is quiet to us is there a sound the current makes as its traveling down the line that animals can hear?

I ask this because a few weeks ago I had construction done on my barn, and since the electric fence runs into the barn where it connects to the charger it had to be disconnected. The same day I was going to reconnect the fence, I saw a fox circling the chicken run. We have so much fox activity this time of year, I was surprised I hadn't seen one that close before then. So did that sneaky fox somehow know the e-fence wasn't on? Then this morning, I heard the flock setting off an alarm call. I went to the window to find a few deer wandering through (the e-fence was on at the time), and a curious doe slowly walked towards the run where my rooster was pressed up against the wire fence like he was going to take her on. She stretched out like she was going to sniff him and when her nose got about three inches from the hot wire, she turned and walked away. So I'm just wondering...is the electric fence an audible deterrent as well as a physical deterrent?

It is not an audible thing but they can feel a slight sensation from the electric charge without actually touching the fence. I used to watch my horses stretch out their noses to detect whether or not the electric fence was on. They did not have to actually touch the fence to know. If it was on they would back away but if it was off they were more than willing to push into and over the fence to reach what was on the other side. You know the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

 

[centrarchid]

They can hear shorts that are really hard to completely stop under typical conditions.

 

[townchicks]

Foxes can hear mice under 2 feet of snow, if there is any sound to be heard, They probably can.

 

[Chickassan]

Animals can sense current,that is why electric fences work so well. Some are just driven by hunger or instict those get shocked.

 

[nekker57]

They can feel the static electricity from the fence just like they feel when it is going to thunder and lightning

 

[Howard E]

I would be curious to know this too. Do much searching and what you get will be mostly anecdotal responses....AKA, guesses. Would like to see some scientific research.

If they can hear anything, it may be the click, click, click coming down a wire fence from the charger itself. About like a soup can telephone. Many animals may be able to hear that.....but to realize it and make the connection that sound means shock and silence means the coast is clear would have to eventually associate the click noise with a shock. To do that means they have to risk getting shocked a bunch of times to find out. Not sure how many would do that.

A really hot electric fence can also border on induction, which is like when your hair stands up on end right before a lighting strike hits you. That actually happened to me once. I dropped to the ground and figured I had cheated death that day. But with induction, if the juice is cranked up high enough, the spark or shock may jump through the air. Like that of a lighting strike or even a spark plug in a gasoline engine.

Animals noses may be sensitive enough to feel that, and if shocked a bunch of times, they may be able to associate that with a fence that is on.....vs. one that is not.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My experience with electric fences is that animals don't understand anything about electricity they may have had an unfortunate encounter with an electric fence and nence forth they only creep up to an electric fence to cautiously survey the risk. This suggest that animals can not hear, smell, taste, see, feel, or otherwise sense the absence or presence of electricity. I had a much beloved dog who encountered a temporary electric fence and after the new field fence replaced the electric fence that dog refused to cross the spot that the electric fence previously was for over 5 years.

 

[RWise]

For whatever reason my pig would smell the wire, if it was not hot she would try it. Of course the charger pulsed so she got shocked a few times. To which she would stand there longer smelling the wire to see if the coast was clear. Never thought that maybe she could feel the charge,,, that would make since.

 

[drumstick diva]

very interesting