Nah! I use a Havahart electric fence to keep the squirrels off my bird feeder. It puts out about 800 volts, but very low current and in one second bursts. I rigged it my stapling four strips of brazing rod on my railing just beneath the feeder. The zap sends the critters about 5 feet in the air, they land on their feet and wonder what hit them. They only do this once of twice, then never approach the feeder again. You can always tell when there's a new guy in town - WHAM! I've had people inadvertently touch the wires, they said it was more scary than hurtful. No problems.

All the best,

Gary