Is electric fencing an efficient and animal-friendly tool to prevent stone martens from entering buildings?

Published source details Kistler C., Hegglin D. , von Wattenwyl K. & Bontadina F. (2013) Is electric fencing an efficient and animal-friendly tool to prevent stone martens from entering buildings?. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 59, 905-909.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Prevent mammals accessing potential wildlife food sources or denning sites to reduce nuisance behaviour and human-wildlife conflict Action Link

Prevent mammals accessing potential wildlife food sources or denning sites to reduce nuisance behaviour and human-wildlife conflict

A before-and-after study in 2006 on a building in Switzerland (Kistler et al. 2013) found that electric fencing excluded stone martens Martes foina from the property. The rate of martens passing through gaps into the building’s attic after electric fence installation was lower (0.1 martens/day) than before the fence was installed (1.9 martens/day). It was lower still (0 martens/day) after the fence was modified. The property, built in the 1950s, was used frequently by martens, resulting in serious damage. Two electric fence types were deployed: wire mesh net for larger gaps and electric wire strands for small openings. Marten movements were monitored by video camera from 12 June to 27 July 2006. This covered nine nights before and seven nights after fence installation and 10 further nights after a crevice was modified by adding an extra electric wire strand. Checks were made for marten re-entry over a further 103 nights, by monitoring for bait removal and for faeces.

(Summarised by: Nick Littlewood)