solar snake repellers

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by annette, Nov 20, 2010.

  1. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Has anyone ever tried those solar snake repellers? Apparently they put a vibration in the ground which scares off the snakes. May be a good way to keep smaller animals safer in rural areas. Just wondering if anyone had any feedback on them.

    thanks
    annette
     
  2. sun burn

    sun burn Junior Member

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    no idea but they could work at least in the short term. The vibration would have to be quite big - equivalent to a human step - because its the vibration of something approaching that sends them slithering off. I wonder if the'd become clued up to the idea of it not being benign after a while though. These things always have things set to constant to the animals learn that its not real. I don't know how smart snakes are though. How much does it cost?
     
  3. DonHansford

    DonHansford Junior Member

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    Not tested in Australia, but an American once claimed to have gotten rid of snakes from his yard simply by planting marigolds. He had been experiencing problems with the snakes on his doorstep, so he put some plants there in pots - no more snakes in sight!
    Your mileage may vary, but it could be worth a shot
     
  4. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Senior Member

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  5. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Yep I agree, with the "Urine Therapy" trick.... Weve disscussed this,be4 in the boards,re urines multi purpose properties...8)8)8)8)8)

    The Solar vibrator sounds a great concept too..:rofl:

    Tezza
     
  6. Adam

    Adam Junior Member

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    Don't buy a solar snake repeller. I doubt it would be able to create a vibration significant enough to keep snakes away. As sunburn mentioned, it would have to be pretty big. Furthermore, many species of snakes are nocturnal or prefer to hunt early or late in the day when the sun isn't very strong. It might be effective at keeping snakes away in the heat of the afternoon, but snakes won't normally be out hunting at this time anyway.

    Even if it were effective in keeping snakes away, think about this: if it can cause vibrations significant enough to drive snakes away, what effects might it be having on other organisms in the area? I can imagine earthworms aren't keen on vibration, either. Do you want to drive all of them away from the area, too? And it probably takes a much lower level of vibration to mess with them. I also remember one study found that vibration from electric motors have been observed to interrupt the natural burrowing rhythms of spadefoot toads who would be induced to come out of their burrows (which they would normally only do with the arrival of monsoons) prematurely. You probably don't have spadefoot toads where you live, but there are a plethora of other organisms that probably would be effected in similar ways.

    Remember, one of the principles of permaculture is to work with nature rather than against it.

    Instead, I would recommend trying the following:
    - create barriers with chickenwire or something similar under patios, decks, and similar places so as to not provide convenient habitat for large snakes
    - keep rodent populations to a minimum by not leaving feed around unguarded, and if necessary, employing some cats
    - clean up brush piles that might provide good habitat for snakes
     
  7. Adam

    Adam Junior Member

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    By the way, full disclosure: I am a bit of a snake fanatic, so I have never had the problem of trying to keep them away! If you have any snake-loving neighbors or community members they might be happy to come along and remove any large snakes that you find to be a problem.
     
  8. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Thanks everyone. Well it looks like I'll be peeing around the duck shed and planting flowers too!!!
     
  9. cassio

    cassio Junior Member

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    I say, eat the snakes, they're good food.
    Besides, as soon as you start to want them, they'll probably disappear (Murphy would say).
     
  10. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    I'd have to be pretty starving before I could eat a snake. But yeah ain't it the truth, they probably would disappear.
     
  11. SueUSA

    SueUSA Junior Member

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    What do the snakes in your area eat? If they eat mice and rats, etc, get a few cats. Cats will kill smaller snakes (even poisonous ones), but more importantly, they rid your area of the food that snakes eat. Make sure they have a secure place to sleep, and an escape from their own predators.

    Sue
     
  12. ebunny

    ebunny Junior Member

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    So you don't have a snake problem, but are suffering from a lack of snake loving neighbours, or perhaps family members who are willing to pee around the edge of the property, or even marigolds. Well, its almost Christmas....:)
     
  13. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    summer time =more drink =more wees =more oportunity to water and fertilize in one go....could also, "chuck in a weed and feed and wee(d) all in one go" buts its too corny so i wont

    Tezza
     
  14. JoH

    JoH Junior Member

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    I just saw my first snack last week - only a meter from my vege garden. I didnt see any last year. So Ebunny, does peeing actually help keep them out? - I really am a bit nervous of one hiding under my beans.
     
  15. kolecta

    kolecta New Member

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    Hello readers, with much skepticism, three years ago we took a chance and brought 5 solar snake repellers for our 2 acres in central tasmania (we had nicked named it, snake central) three years on and to this day we still hasn't seen another brown since, believe what you want i say they work and i never fear about sending the grandkids out the back to play anymore,
    they are available on the australian owned auction site ** oztion ** (oztion.com.au) and they are cheaper than anywhere else.
     
  16. Kerryrob

    Kerryrob New Member

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    Cool! This was actually the first time I heard about this Solar Snake Repellers. See how solar energy was so beneficial for us.
     
  17. consumer99

    consumer99 New Member

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    I can confirm that the electronic snake repellers definitely don't work. Though I didn't get as far as finding out if they repel snakes or not - I mean the units themselves don't operate. I bought some units from the on-line supplier in Gympie, and put them out in the yard, and one didn't work at all while others charged up okay and sent out vibrations every few seconds, but stopped working after a few days. The thing is that the supplier has been happy to replace the units when I advised him of the problems I was having, but none of the replacements work either. They either don't work at all, or stop working after just a few days. I now have multiple faulty snake repeller units sitting around and have given up dealing with the supplier. Oh well, we live and learn.
     
  18. emilyjane

    emilyjane Junior Member

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    Our puppy school teacher, who is also a snake catcher (handy woman to know!) said the solar powered snake repellers are a waste of money - snake catchers have apparently done a fair bit of testing on them and found them to do bugger all.
     
  19. Adrian1976

    Adrian1976 Junior Member

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    Have you thought about Guinea fowl birds? Or another bird that interest me is a peacock.
     
  20. mumma_ox

    mumma_ox Junior Member

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    I haven't used them, but I had recently suggested getting them to try. When I mentioned this to a farming family member, he reckoned they would not work. He said he has been using his tractors and had snakes just slither past.

    Love to hear if anyone has had any success all the samethough.
     

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