solar snake repellers

[annette]

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

[sun burn]

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?

[DonHansford]

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

[Grasshopper]

“This Aboriginal bloke told me the best way to keep them away from your home or your camp is to urinate around the perimeter.”

http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/...ler-kept-busy/

maybe plant some citrus around the boundary kill 2 birds with the one stone

[Tezza]

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

The Solar vibrator sounds a great concept too..

Tezza

[Adam]

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

[Adam]

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.

[annette]

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

[cassio]

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).

[annette]

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