x marks the shock
I have an X on my right upper arm, just below the shoulder. You know the place, where comic sailors have mother tattooed on their biceps. My X isn't a tattoo though, but it sure is a brand. I got it today when I was stupid enough to go work along the sheep fence without turning off the 30-mile cattle charger I use to keep the woollies in. I was dumping out the dirty sheep's water tank and stand in a pool of muddy water when my shoulder touched the bare wire. I screamed, and I mean I screamed, more out of shock than pain. It was not something I would recommend to any of you nice people. Shucks, I wouldn't recommend it to any of you mean people. It was rough. Lesson learned.
I now have a perfect little red X on my arm though. I kinda hope it sticks.
I now have a perfect little red X on my arm though. I kinda hope it sticks.
posted by Jenna at 3:30 PM
15 Comments:
Ah, electric fences - I have a deep loathing for them, thanks to a couple of rough encounters with them on farms I've worked on or visited for work. The last encounter left me with welts on the inside of both thighs for weeks...ugh.
Ouch! Aloe vera plant treatment. Have you experienced any luck with solar charged electric fencing? Or has anyone?
Thanks. Got tomatoes from garden simmering on stove, preparing to can some. Grapes washed and ready for tomorrow's grape jelly time:) Life is good when the garden is abundant.Love the idea of rabbits as a protein source.
Ouch!
yikes! I'm already wary of electric fences, but I'm in the middle of building one to protect my beehives from bears. Thanks for the reminder to always turn the fence off.
ouch! Thanks for the reminder to always turn my fence, off, though. I've been lucky so far, but I suspect the shock is coming. Yuck!
I too have learned that electric fence chargers are effective for a reason. Hard lesson to learn for sure but it sure sticks! :)
-Rachael from The Rehomesteaders
Oh not good! I hope you're okay!
So sorry you got zapped. Is it an AC fence? I have a solar one that my goats just plow over. They don't seem to care if them get zapped.
Those scars you pick up on your body will be like a map of your life. Many seek tattoos to mark those moments. I carry a faint scratch (now) on the back of my hand from a skittish cat that heard a blow dryer for the first time. He's been dead since 1983. The scar (and memory of him) remain.
A friend of ours offered his sons twenty bucks to the first one to touch our electric fence. The ten year old took the bet. He earned it!
ouch! I know that "shock" feeling that hits you harder than the pain. I love that you hope the mark sticks, though. :)
@ Holly: I have had good luck with solar fence chargers for white tape. I have found, however, they do not work well as a stand-alone fencing effort. I like to use three-wire (minimum), 4x4 wire (better), or 2x4 no-climb mesh with a top board (best) with a strand of white tape along the top to keep the horses of the fence itself. We use Premier One to split the doe pasture with an intermittent solar charger instead of the recommended continuous electric charger with good result.
Ouch, however, you have endured a long tradition of getting shocked, a rite of passing for farm kids. As kids we'd go out to pasture work to get the cows or haying or whatever and someone was "supposed" to turn off the fence. They didn't always do that, whether by neglect or design. It is amazing that we still grew up trusting others with our lives, but maybe it was because we learned early on that getting shocked was not the worst thing that could happen in life. However I am careful to turn the dang things off first. When I got shocked resuscitating a patient it was no surprise to me (well, maybe a little) but more like reliving another of my childhood adventures. and no scars though; scars from pitchfork stabs in the feet (farm kids wore outgrown school gym sneakers in the summer and our toes hung out the holes, no such thing as kid leather work boots), but not from shocks.
I guess the saying: "That will leave a mark" kinda fits here!
Grace and Peace,
John
SHE CANT MAKE JELLY
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