Great discussion!

Most of my yards have black bears.  I can't speak for areas other than the
California Sierra foothills.  We put up the quickest, cheapest, most
reliable fence we've found over the years.

We currently set up a fence with heavy steel T-posts in the corners,
insulators facing inside toward center (we like the ones with a separate pin
so that the wire can slide (Red SnapR pinlocks).

Fiberglass intermediate posts if necessary.   Generally 2, but sometimes 3
1/8" poly "wires."  White wire is most visible, so that deer don't run into
it.  Top wire just high enough to step over without shocking your gonads.

We use long weak springs to tension the wires (15/32 x 4-1/2 x .041), so
that if a deer hits the fence, the wires don't break or pull over the
posts.  We make wire hooks at the corner insulators to hook one end of the
spring over for dropping the wires.

We use the Zareba 4612A bulldozer 12V shocker and deep cycle batteries,
placed in an empty box just inside the fence.  Drive a full 8 ft ground rod.

In very dry areas, we either alternate hot/ground wires on the fence, or run
a 2 ft strip of chicken wire on the ground, grounded to the charger.  A good
ground is absolutely critical, and if anyone can hold on to the hot wire,
it's not hot enough.  We have a test gage, and want the voltage to be at
least 7000V, 9000V to the soil is better.

Bacon or salami on the top wires at first setup.  Once the bears learn the
fence, they respect it even if the power goes low.

This past month we had two bears get in, which is unusual.  One found a
boulder to step up on, and the other excavated under.  Both were easy fixes
with one of the two grounding fixes mentioned above.

Randy Oliver
Bears, bears, everywhere

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