Farmer friends warned me that fences need only slightly less care and feeding than the livestock they enclose, so I guess I was due.  I’ve had to adjust gates and futz with ground rods, but I’ve gotten off pretty easy so far.  Friday, during the start of the storm, I noticed that a big chunk of ash tree had fallen on the fence at the top of the field, and I figured that my luck was up.

The tree nearest the corner had lost a section of its crown directly above the fence.

Amazingly, though, the fence itself seemed largely intact.

The fallen limb was shorting the electrified wire at the top of the fence against the lower woven wire, so I shut off the juice before I started to remove the wood.

Tractor and chainsaw made quick(ish) work of the cleanup.

The only lasting damage was a single lost staple that held the hot wire in place against the post.

And when I turned the fence charger back on, the hot wire was back at 9000 V, the recommended setting for coyote deterrence.