I’m talking to guy who might lease his 5 acres for my goats to graze. But there is some problems. The property is on the creek and there are a lot of coyotes and 1-2 mountain lion who walk the creek at night. I had a kid killed 2 months ago by one. The problem is that he is in the city and you can’t have a barking dogs so the LGD is out. I was thinking all mountain videos I have seen jumping fence they almost always touch the top of the fence if the fence is 6ft. Would the 68inch premier one netting stop a mountain lion? I think it will as long as the lion cant jump down from a tree. Any ideas?
Can 68in electric netting stop a mountain lion?
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Baymule
Herd Master
Don’t know about the electric netting and a mountain lion. What stuck out for me is that coyotes and cougars are ok but a barking dog to keep them from killing your goats, is not. Wow.
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Jesusfreak101
Herd Master
Any way to lock them up at night so predators couldnt get to them. I honestly wouldnt know if the fence would work.
High Desert Cowboy
True BYH Addict
There’s a lot of variables with electrical fencing. What kind of power supply do you have for that fencing? How many joules will your controller produce? What’s the ground cover like, is there a lot of tall grass that could potentially be pulling power out of your fence? Does it have good soil to provide a proper ground?
Here’s an experience I had with my dog. She can jump a 6 foot fence no issue. I put a line of hot wire around the top of the kennel to stop her. She jumped out again no issue. I didn’t have proper grounding for the fence to work so I redid it so it would have proper ground. Dog tried to get over the fence, got shocked, and still made it over the fence because she just wanted away from whatever shocked her. She landed and did what she always does and just wouldn’t go back in her kennel because it was gonna bite her.
So will your fence stop a predator like a mountain lion? Maybe, if all the variables work in your favor. I believe that hot wire is a wonderful tool to keep domestic animals in or out of a certain area so long as there is no immediate threat. I say that because I’ve watched frightened animals run through hotwire like it wasn’t even there. But I wouldn’t count on it to keep a determined predator out.
Here’s an experience I had with my dog. She can jump a 6 foot fence no issue. I put a line of hot wire around the top of the kennel to stop her. She jumped out again no issue. I didn’t have proper grounding for the fence to work so I redid it so it would have proper ground. Dog tried to get over the fence, got shocked, and still made it over the fence because she just wanted away from whatever shocked her. She landed and did what she always does and just wouldn’t go back in her kennel because it was gonna bite her.
So will your fence stop a predator like a mountain lion? Maybe, if all the variables work in your favor. I believe that hot wire is a wonderful tool to keep domestic animals in or out of a certain area so long as there is no immediate threat. I say that because I’ve watched frightened animals run through hotwire like it wasn’t even there. But I wouldn’t count on it to keep a determined predator out.
Stephine
True BYH Addict
I just had a long call with a mountain lion expert. Check out their website: Living with Lions.
I think a mountain lion could jump that fence easily. Also electric fencing in the dry season isn’t so simple, since the ground won’t close the current. You’d have to have the type that has the return wires and an animal would have to hit both wires at the same time.
The worse problem is that if he gets shocked on his first try and gets in and feels trapped, he is likely to kill everything that moves in the enclosure - that’s what a trapped, scared mountain lion does.
Locking up the animals overnight is safest (that is from maybe an hour before sunset to an hour or so after the sun comes up - the lions are very active around dawn and dusk). Make sure that the goats in their shelter can’t be seen from the creek (cover the bottom 5 feet at least with solid material), so the cats don’t come over to investigate. I would give Living with Lions a call and see what they recommend for fencing for day time, but if you can’t lock them up at night I would definitely pass on that pasture! We are on a wildlife corridor in Sonoma...
I think a mountain lion could jump that fence easily. Also electric fencing in the dry season isn’t so simple, since the ground won’t close the current. You’d have to have the type that has the return wires and an animal would have to hit both wires at the same time.
The worse problem is that if he gets shocked on his first try and gets in and feels trapped, he is likely to kill everything that moves in the enclosure - that’s what a trapped, scared mountain lion does.
Locking up the animals overnight is safest (that is from maybe an hour before sunset to an hour or so after the sun comes up - the lions are very active around dawn and dusk). Make sure that the goats in their shelter can’t be seen from the creek (cover the bottom 5 feet at least with solid material), so the cats don’t come over to investigate. I would give Living with Lions a call and see what they recommend for fencing for day time, but if you can’t lock them up at night I would definitely pass on that pasture! We are on a wildlife corridor in Sonoma...
Legamin
Loving the herd life
I am a HUGE fan of PremierOne electric net fencing. But there are limitations.. The one limitation is your Energizer! The energizer MUST have two or more settings for different defense levels. Ours goes to low setting (dog, sheep, goat) during the day when grazing is the big activity. But there is a setting specifically for bear and mountain lion…and that is the night setting. I used a domestic made one (see: Not Gallagher) that claimed 30 mile perimeter and HIGH VOLTAGE (even gave me ’Danger’ signed with it….this was a $400 mistake…. I went back and bought the Gallagher after horses walked right through it like it wasn’t there and destroyed $2000 of pasture grass and $1200 of PremeirOne electric fence and several extra posts used to stiffen it…(grrr)…. I have stuck with Gallagher as EVERY animal now respects my fences.
I think if you are budget minded you can use normal moveable fence and put a two layer single 9-wire strand at the top height of the posts. For mountain lion the top of the fence (or any holes in the fence) are the only thing the ever concern themselves with. I found out all this about electric fencing after four horses and a bull were all run out of the pasture by a particularly large mountain lion that raided every animal enclosure on our property in a single night and injured three animals badly. It only takes once. Our main problem is coyote…fast and skittish but not incredibly resourceful. Mountain Lions are a different prospect altogether. Good luck.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
No, electric netting will not stop a mountain lion.
First, a lion can jump from the ground to the roof of a one story building so can easily clear the netting. Cougars routinely drag their prey up into trees or over large cliffs to hide it. 68" netting will be no barrier at all.
Second, netting is flexible so even while getting shocked, the lion hitting the netting will cause it to bend over at the top or the weight of its body will just knock it over. And once the lion realizes it can just jump over the netting it will simply come back again and again.
Why do you think that a herd of bleating goats screaming for their supper won't bother the neighbors while a guardian dog barking will? Most guardians only bark when a predator is around. Some cities won't let you leave animals unattended on vacant property so be sure to check the zoning and animal regulations if you decide to leave your herd on the 5 acres.
On the other hand maybe you can get city approval if you can show that you are putting the goats and dog on the acreage for brush control purposes. Some cities are starting to hire flocks of sheep and herds of goats with their attendant guardian dogs to control brush. Those shepherds use Premier netting and move it around to cover all the property for the sheep/goats to take off all the brush.
First, a lion can jump from the ground to the roof of a one story building so can easily clear the netting. Cougars routinely drag their prey up into trees or over large cliffs to hide it. 68" netting will be no barrier at all.
Second, netting is flexible so even while getting shocked, the lion hitting the netting will cause it to bend over at the top or the weight of its body will just knock it over. And once the lion realizes it can just jump over the netting it will simply come back again and again.
Completely true. Where are you located in SoCal?
Why do you think that a herd of bleating goats screaming for their supper won't bother the neighbors while a guardian dog barking will? Most guardians only bark when a predator is around. Some cities won't let you leave animals unattended on vacant property so be sure to check the zoning and animal regulations if you decide to leave your herd on the 5 acres.
On the other hand maybe you can get city approval if you can show that you are putting the goats and dog on the acreage for brush control purposes. Some cities are starting to hire flocks of sheep and herds of goats with their attendant guardian dogs to control brush. Those shepherds use Premier netting and move it around to cover all the property for the sheep/goats to take off all the brush.
Legamin
Loving the herd life
I think there is always going to be lengthy discussion about what an animal WILL do versus what an animal CAN do.
If you have a properly energized fence in many instances the mountain lion will sense the high charge at some distance and not come within several feet of it. The charge and capacity (or height for that matter) are all subjective in the conversation because an animal on the prowl will not take chances and look for easier and more accessible prey while a mountain lion that has not eaten for several days due to scarcity or wildfire or new impingement into it territory by construction or noise WILL take chances that normally it would avoid. A mountain lion should not be confused with an African Savanah Lion…they will not take a 340lb ram up a tree…even if they CAN. They will take what they can and go….unless they are very hungry or have already discovered the great taste of lamb. If you are in a populated area where mountain lions are STILL coming in and attacking pets and domestic ‘city herds’ then you have a problem that requires Animal Control and cannot be ignored because that animal is also dangerous to people. For me in the PNW to tell you in California what your local mountain lions will or won’t do is a subjective exercise at best. Where I live a single highly charged electric wire 12 inches off the ground will discourage a mountain lion,,,in a normal year…but that same mountain lion during a severe drought in a mild Winter may not be so easily discouraged. Population density of both people, farm animals AND mountain lions are all wildly subjective variables that can either diminish or amplify under varying circumstances. We had no mountain lions for half a century…and then we did. They tested our resolve one Summer and found it to be greater than their own. Your circumstance will most certainly be different.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Here in SoCal where @Augie lives cougar are protected by law. They are no longer afraid of humans. They will prowl city neighborhoods if they are looking for an easy meal. While they normally remain up in the foothills and higher into the mountains, @Augie says they routinely patrol the creek bed adjacent to the 5 acres he wants to lease. Since they will immediately see that there are goats there, they will eventually take one or two. Electric fencing will not necessarily keep them out of the herd if they decide that cabrito is on the menu. This is particularly true since @Augie will not be living on the premises, nor will the owner. With no human presence around the goat herd will be even more enticing to a cougar, not to mention coyotes and loose dogs. An electric fence has the possibility for the charger or battery to stop working and without a charge in the fence the electric fence will be worthless.
A permanent fence with electric wire and barbed wire would be more effective in the absence of a guardian dog. A guardian dog is the most effective predator control. However, in the presence of a cougar that is determined to get a goat even ONE guardian dog would not be enough deterrent. You would have to have several in order to fight off a cougar. On the other hand, the presence of a barking guardian dog can encourage a roaming cougar to change their hunting pattern and avoid the premises protected by one or two guardian dogs.
A permanent fence with electric wire and barbed wire would be more effective in the absence of a guardian dog. A guardian dog is the most effective predator control. However, in the presence of a cougar that is determined to get a goat even ONE guardian dog would not be enough deterrent. You would have to have several in order to fight off a cougar. On the other hand, the presence of a barking guardian dog can encourage a roaming cougar to change their hunting pattern and avoid the premises protected by one or two guardian dogs.
