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longbich
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 08:21 am |
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There's a problem right under the fuse box where the electricity meter is. The meter reader cannot get close enough to have his gadget check on electricity usage because of the Red Bellied Black snakes that have decided to hole up right where a meter reader would plant his feet to do his job. It's a sunny place, good for basking and even now as it's getting cooler in OZ the snakes are there.
How do you get rid of them?
I know about the cleaning up the area, which has boken bricks and rubble there. But it's difficult to clean up an area that has poisonous varmints lurking therein.
Other folks have told me to use mothballs or sulfur and one even told me to plant Marigolds. So the snakes will be moth free, enjoy a sulfur bath and be able to enjoy their colorful garden. But what? What shoos these critters away?
It's unlawful to harm them unless they enter your house or are going to harm you and yours or your pets.
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Sail
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 08:59 am |
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| Good grief! Your wife / girlfriend must be scared of them, I should imagine! Men usually can deal with all types of creepy-crawlies; so why don't you just "off" them, even if it is illegal?
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Radical Maverick
Member
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 07:45 pm |
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| Samuel L. Jackson, that's what!
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Tsalagi1
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 10:15 pm |
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| What problem?...I recommend double-odd buck...but that's just my preference.
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EmperorNortonII
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Posted: Sat May 17th, 2008 11:48 pm |
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Longbirch, don't listen to these douches.
Failing any sort of wildlife expert or such, you could try to bag them. Find yourself a stick that is long enough to be able to pick them up at a distance, get some pillowcases, and try to catch them.
If you know the species, get antivenim. Even if you go the douchebag route and try to shoot them, you never know what may happen. IF YOU HAVE A NEST OF POISONOUS SNAKES NEARBY, GET ANTIVENIM! Can't stress it enough.
Again, if they're endangered, you're best off contacting some sort of ranger or wildlife officer.
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longbich
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 12:49 am |
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EmperorNortonII wrote: Longbirch, don't listen to these douches.
Failing any sort of wildlife expert or such, you could try to bag them. Find yourself a stick that is long enough to be able to pick them up at a distance, get some pillowcases, and try to catch them.
If you know the species, get antivenim. Even if you go the douchebag route and try to shoot them, you never know what may happen. IF YOU HAVE A NEST OF POISONOUS SNAKES NEARBY, GET ANTIVENIM! Can't stress it enough.
Again, if they're endangered, you're best off contacting some sort of ranger or wildlife officer.
Thanks for all your input everyone. RadicalMaverick and Tsalagi1 I am unable to put your suggestions into action. Guns are banned in OZ and I do not know anyone who has one anyway. Even if I did get hold of a gun these snakes aren't gunna sit up for me to knock them over with a blast. They prefer to slither away into their rocky abodes rather than take in some lead.
Sail creepy-crawlies are part of life Downunder and most girls, just like most men, are not afraid of most critters and will deal with them personally without calling for a big, strong he-man to get rid of the scream inducing critters. But these snakes eat other snakes. They eat Brown and Tiger snakes which are very aggressive and highly potent.
I would like to be able to do what you suggested EmperorNortonII but I and most Aussies know that being bitten by a snake in most cases is due to the bitee trying to catch or kill the biter with a shovel or star picket or whatever is to hand. The pros use your method EmperorNorton with a pronged stick to hold down the head, lift the snake up by the tail and drop it into a hessian bag.
I have asked for help from the authorities but they will not help unless the critter is inside your house or there are children around. One set of authorities even asked me if I would like to volunteer for the snake handling position which had been long vacant in their Animal Protection Group.
What I want to do guys is to flush the buggers out. If I can get them out for a while I can do something with the comfort level of their preferred lodging. Maybe even cement it over. I just want them to goooo awaaaaayyyy!
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EmperorNortonII
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 01:25 am |
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I've tried doing some research.
I hear that gasoline fumes will drive them away, if you can set a container of gas where the smell will be blown upwind.
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EmperorNortonII
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 01:44 am |
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Failing that, get some hard alcohol and spray it on them. Rum has long been used as a tool for getting animals that have bitten down onto a person to let go right quick. Maybe spraying/sloshing it on them/around them will get them to scurry off.
As soon as they leave, pour some concrete down. If it closes holes/escape ways, it might get them to stay away.
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longbich
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:24 am |
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EmperorNortonII wrote: Failing that, get some hard alcohol and spray it on them. Rum has long been used as a tool for getting animals that have bitten down onto a person to let go right quick. Maybe spraying/sloshing it on them/around them will get them to scurry off.
As soon as they leave, pour some concrete down. If it closes holes/escape ways, it might get them to stay away.
I will try with the petrol (gasoline) EmperorNortonII and will add this to my list of snake chasing products. Wasting good rum on reptiles seems a tad drastic. Maybe I will use that to celebrate with after I have succeeded with one of the methods advised.
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EmperorNortonII
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:47 am |
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longbich wrote: EmperorNortonII wrote: Failing that, get some hard alcohol and spray it on them. Rum has long been used as a tool for getting animals that have bitten down onto a person to let go right quick. Maybe spraying/sloshing it on them/around them will get them to scurry off.
As soon as they leave, pour some concrete down. If it closes holes/escape ways, it might get them to stay away.
I will try with the petrol (gasoline) EmperorNortonII and will add this to my list of snake chasing products. Wasting good rum on reptiles seems a tad drastic. Maybe I will use that to celebrate with after I have succeeded with one of the methods advised.
It doesn't need to be good rum. Or even rum. Get the cheapest shi* you can find.
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MustangSally
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:53 am |
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Our last house had a rock wall and a large colony of garter snakes when we moved in. My local Extension specialist suggested we buy a plastic, lifesized owl from the farm supply store and perch it near the rock wall. I'm not sure about the snakes, as it got cold and we moved soon after, but it sure kept the rabbits and squirrels away. Another suggestions I've heard but never tried is dumping used kitty litter around the area.
Last edited on Sun May 18th, 2008 03:54 am by MustangSally
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EmperorNortonII
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:58 am |
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I deon't even know if there ARE owls in Australia, but I imagine a life-like predator statue might help as well.
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Tsalagi1
Member
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 04:06 am |
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longbich wrote: EmperorNortonII wrote: Longbirch, don't listen to these douches.
Failing any sort of wildlife expert or such, you could try to bag them. Find yourself a stick that is long enough to be able to pick them up at a distance, get some pillowcases, and try to catch them.
If you know the species, get antivenim. Even if you go the douchebag route and try to shoot them, you never know what may happen. IF YOU HAVE A NEST OF POISONOUS SNAKES NEARBY, GET ANTIVENIM! Can't stress it enough.
Again, if they're endangered, you're best off contacting some sort of ranger or wildlife officer.
Thanks for all your input everyone. RadicalMaverick and Tsalagi1 I am unable to put your suggestions into action. Guns are banned in OZ and I do not know anyone who has one anyway. Even if I did get hold of a gun these snakes aren't gunna sit up for me to knock them over with a blast. They prefer to slither away into their rocky abodes rather than take in some lead.
Sail creepy-crawlies are part of life Downunder and most girls, just like most men, are not afraid of most critters and will deal with them personally without calling for a big, strong he-man to get rid of the scream inducing critters. But these snakes eat other snakes. They eat Brown and Tiger snakes which are very aggressive and highly potent.
I would like to be able to do what you suggested EmperorNortonII but I and most Aussies know that being bitten by a snake in most cases is due to the bitee trying to catch or kill the biter with a shovel or star picket or whatever is to hand. The pros use your method EmperorNorton with a pronged stick to hold down the head, lift the snake up by the tail and drop it into a hessian bag.
I have asked for help from the authorities but they will not help unless the critter is inside your house or there are children around. One set of authorities even asked me if I would like to volunteer for the snake handling position which had been long vacant in their Animal Protection Group.
What I want to do guys is to flush the buggers out. If I can get them out for a while I can do something with the comfort level of their preferred lodging. Maybe even cement it over. I just want them to goooo awaaaaayyyy!
You mean...ALL guns are banned for private citizens??? I thought Australia had a very well entrenched hunting tradition?Last edited on Sun May 18th, 2008 04:07 am by Tsalagi1
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longbich
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 04:48 am |
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Tsalagi1 I don't really want to side track all the inputs from the folks here who have offered such great and practical advice but FYI:
"Non-self-loading long-guns are readily available to Australians who are at least 18 years of age, have no police record and who pass a simple shooters licence test." I do not know anyone who owns one.
"In Australia, handguns have only been available to bona-fide members of approved pistol clubs and to gun collectors." I knew some folks who belonged to a pistol shooting club but it closed down after very strict rules were applied after the Tasmanian massacre in 1996.
"There were about four million guns in Australia. One million were no longer in the legal category after 1996 so a gun buy-back scheme was introduced to purchase these. The estimated average price was $500 per gun. Only 640,000 guns were offered for purchase, hence $320 million was used for this purpose. It should be noted that up to 40% of Australian gun owners did not obey the law, making the term 'law abiding shooters' look somewhat ridiculous."
Anyway even if I had a gun I would not get away with shooting it in this coastal village. There would be people swarming all over if I did. Hey not a bad idea. Maybe the snakes would be trompled or just scared away by the throng!
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Tsalagi1
Member
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Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 07:31 pm |
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longbich wrote: Tsalagi1 I don't really want to side track all the inputs from the folks here who have offered such great and practical advice but FYI:
"Non-self-loading long-guns are readily available to Australians who are at least 18 years of age, have no police record and who pass a simple shooters licence test." I do not know anyone who owns one.
"In Australia, handguns have only been available to bona-fide members of approved pistol clubs and to gun collectors." I knew some folks who belonged to a pistol shooting club but it closed down after very strict rules were applied after the Tasmanian massacre in 1996.
"There were about four million guns in Australia. One million were no longer in the legal category after 1996 so a gun buy-back scheme was introduced to purchase these. The estimated average price was $500 per gun. Only 640,000 guns were offered for purchase, hence $320 million was used for this purpose. It should be noted that up to 40% of Australian gun owners did not obey the law, making the term 'law abiding shooters' look somewhat ridiculous."
Anyway even if I had a gun I would not get away with shooting it in this coastal village. There would be people swarming all over if I did. Hey not a bad idea. Maybe the snakes would be trompled or just scared away by the throng!
Didn't mean to hijack the thread..it just sounded rather incredulous that's all.
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longbich
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 04:24 am |
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EmperorNortonII wrote: I deon't even know if there ARE owls in Australia, but I imagine a life-like predator statue might help as well.
There are lots of owls in Australia and there are the kookaburras which prey on snakes and lizards laughing and chuckling to each other before and after each successful hunt. (and in between ha ha ha)
So I am gonna try the mothballs first. Then I will move onto the other suggestions using $$ as the criteria. If I am successful I'll let you know. If you don't hear from me then maybe I'll be recuperating after the antivenene shots in the local hospita.
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RationalMan
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 07:00 am |
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HAve you contacted any place around you that might want them?
Zoos.
Reptile conservatories?
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longbich
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 07:52 am |
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RationalMan wrote: HAve you contacted any place around you that might want them?
Zoos.
Reptile conservatories?
Sounds okay in theory RationalMan and I'm sure that if I could interest some o/s zoos or reptilerium or whtever I may have some success. But it's illegal to export Australian fauna without a permit.
The other thing about not being able to get any local or even national zoo interested would be the humiliation I would cop from the laughter after I asked would they like some snakes as Red Bellied Black snakes are almost as common as the proverbial here in OZ.
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RationalMan
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 08:14 am |
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longbich wrote: RationalMan wrote: HAve you contacted any place around you that might want them?
Zoos.
Reptile conservatories?
Sounds okay in theory RationalMan and I'm sure that if I could interest some o/s zoos or reptilerium or whtever I may have some success. But it's illegal to export Australian fauna without a permit.
The other thing about not being able to get any local or even national zoo interested would be the humiliation I would cop from the laughter after I asked would they like some snakes as Red Bellied Black snakes are almost as common as the proverbial here in OZ.
You are correct, I thought about their commonality after the edit thingie expired. 
Seems like you could rig up a warmer under a cloth bag though, some cool night, for them to crawl into maybe?
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longbich
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 11:48 am |
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RationalMan agreed: You are correct, I thought about their commonality after the edit thingie expired. It is strange being congratulated for being correct for what an Aussie would seem like such an every day bit of knowledge as to not even be woth mentioning. Like being told you are correct when you say that the white slice of bread is white. Mmmm well done longbich. Good detecting skills.
and suggested :Seems like you could rig up a warmer under a cloth bag though, some cool night, for them to crawl into maybe? Now this may have merit RationalMan. I will think about it but will try the more passive methods first. I would still have to close the bag and carry it to ......somewhere faaaaar awaaaay and then release them ....mmmm?
Last edited on Mon May 19th, 2008 11:49 am by longbich
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