---Pete--- said:

I'm thinking I need to electrify this fence to keep the ground hogs
out. Does anyone here have a recommendation on what kit
to get and where to buy it?

Gardener's Supply used to sell a kit which included everything you need
(Stafix poliwire, fiberglass posts, gate handle, insulator/clips, signage,
grounding post, fence tester and a Stafix battery operated charger) but
they don't carry the kit or parts any more. (The kit seems to have been
a setup for temporary grazing enclosures.)

I've bought replacement parts over the years from Kencove Farm
Fencing http://www.kencove.com but it is far from the only source.
(Kencove's got so many different options that if I hadn't already had
a whole kit I would have gotten lost.)

If you are out in the country, a feed or farm supply store would be
a good place to shop.


How are the battery operated units as oppsoed to AC powered?

Much simpler to use, as you don't need to bring a line out and deal
with lightening arrestors. Badly wiring a battery charged unit isn't
going to be fatal or a threat to everything in your house.

How often would I need to re-charge the battery?

Depends on the charger and the type of batteries it uses and how often
the fence is 'challenged.'

You can (if you have the money) get solar set-up to recharge the
batteries.

I replace 6 'D' cells a couple of times a season.

I'm thinking I need the Electric Energizer, some wire, and
some stand-off/insulators. I can't seem to find a kit online.

You might find a kit if you searched for something on the lines
of 'temporary grazing enclosures.' Otherwise you are going to
have to plan things out and buy individual parts.

Top your fence with a few strands of charged wire or a band of charged
tape and you will be good to go. If your current fence is bare wire it
can act as the ground. Otherwise, run a couple of ground wires, one at
the top of the fence and another a couple of inches down from the top.

My fence is 4' tall, one side being chain link (boundary with a neighbor)
and 3 sides being plastic coated wire. I have two electric strands on top
and two ground strands (on the wire part of the fence). My neighbor
says she has watch groundhogs climb the fence, get a jolt, and then
jump back off.

The wires are attached to fiberglass posts with screw-on insulators.
The posts set in along my original fence's T-posts, and are fastened
to the fence itself at intervals between the metal posts. At the gate
I loop back a wire above the gate using a gate handle.

The charger is mounted by the gate (for convenience.)

Do they actually work for keeping ground hogs out?

Yes. But be sure to do something at the bottom of the fence to
keep them from digging under. Buried wire angled out from the
bottom of the fence or a couple of inches of buried wire with a
continuous mowing strip of 9" x 18" along the bottom of the
fence will work.

How about squirels?

If your fence openings are smallish the electric wire on top will keep them
out, too. (Squirrels don't like squeezing through chain-link or smaller
openings and prefer going over or under a fence if they can.)

The setup will also keep out raccoons, opossums, cats, etc. and I know
we have deer around, and they've not bothered the veggies.

(Rabbits are excluded by reinforcing the bottom of the fence with
chicken wire extending 18" up the fence. Rabbits can run through
chain link fence. Little ones do it easily; bigger ones, surprisingly--but
they can do it when sufficiently motivated.)

Mourning doves like to nap during the day on the ground in my
veggie garden, where they feel prefectly safe. (They are amazingly
well camouflaged when sitting on the ground.)

Having a couple of dozen doves rocket out of the garden is a free
cardiac stress test...
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)