Just in time for Halloween

Connecticut is showing residents how to build electric 'unwelcome mats' for bears

And trick-or-treaters, or Jehovah Witnesses, or your idiot nextdoor neighbor; I want one.

The ingredients are a rubber mat, preferably one with holes. Add galvanized metal hardware cloth, zip ties, wire cutters and an electric fence energizer. The recipe says to cut the metal so it sits flat against the mat, leave a narrow buffer around the edge, attach the clips, and test the voltage.

DEEP is now telling Connecticut residents how to build electric “unwelcome mats,” portable bear deterrents designed to deliver a brief shock to a black bear that steps near a door, window, deck or shed.

“An electric unwelcome mat is a portable deterrent that delivers a brief, unpleasant electrical shock to teach bears to avoid entryways and other areas around buildings,” DEEP says in its instructions.

The basic idea is simple. A bear steps on the mat and completes an electrical circuit. The shock is unpleasant enough that the bear learns not to try that spot again, but it is meant to be nonlethal.

That can probably be corrected, if necessary.