Kelpieboy

I have 6 ( almost 7 , due to drop about a week ago) Alpacas used in 2 groups of 3 for sheep guards. Seriously , they are masterful against any 4 legged predator ( fox , cat , feral dog etc) but I don't know how effective they would be against birds. Alpacas also seem to be quite a dab hand with snakes as well as a bonus. I also have a few possum traps set up to get the wily fox and they seem to work pretty well , relatively cheap as well. As for the crows , my suggestion would be to make friends with the local kookaburras as they don't seem to take too kindly to crows encroaching on their feeding patch.

The breed was first developed in the 1800's as a herding breed which could withstand the often harsh conditions of outback sheep stations and which had the endurance, intelligence and stamina to work tirelessly on large flocks. The history of the Kelpie is well documented and can be traced back to a Casterton Station worker called Jack gleeson who mated his black dog named 'Kelpie' with one of the local collies. The resulting offspring were called 'Kelpies' - a name taken from a mythological creature featured in the writings of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Very close to the truth of it but not quite. In 1871 Mr Jack Gleeson was given a female pup bred by Mr George Robertson of Warwick Station (Victoria) and Mr Gleeson called this pup Kelpie ( which is a Gaelic word meaning "water sprite". This pup was black and tan in colour. It was actually Mr Robertson who produced the pup , although credit is usually given to Mr Gleeson because he gave the breed a name which stuck and has become legendary. As a side note "Kelpie" (Mr Gleesons bitch ) was entered into a sheepdog trial in 1872 at Forbes (NSW) at 12 months of age and won the trial with ease and so her pups when they came were in high demand and a legend was born

Not going to get into an argument with you over this but the "science" you use to support your case is flawed in several directions. In regards to the legal assertion you have made at the end of your post shows you have no real understanding of the Law in these matters. However just to play the game a bit...........if your flawed science was in any way true then surely I would encounter snakes at or around the repellers because according to your science a snake might think it was vermin. That is what you asserted is it not ? Just so I am clear on this , you state that you believe the repeller would actually be an attractor and therefore may be dangerous ? I suggest you revisit your science before making further comment using that science as your cornerstone argument. Anyway have a good day sir , we are all entitled to an opinion.

Each to their own on this subject. I believe as a PART of a system they play a role , on their own without all the other precautions that role would be somewhat diminished. I feel safer with them deployed than without and that will do me just fine. To me any precaution is worth investigation and employment rather than doing nothing. In regards to snake catcher videos showing things that don't work .....I will say only this , one must consider the motives of the snake catcher when weighing up the video evidence. The video would hardly be likely to show much that is/may be effective because of the vested interest of the video maker. I would suggest that a fair % of repellers and other alternative devices are either non functional, poorly/incorrectly deployed or used as a one out in an otherwise snake friendly environment. Sorry but a snake catcher video just isn't independent enough for me to take as gospel.

With all due respect to you gillybob but I can only go on the evidence I have seen in regards snake repellers. They are only described as repellers and not stoppers and should be treated as such. If used in conjuction with various other measures and as part of an overall scheme to repel snakes from a certain space then they can be effective. That is what my personal experience and visible evidence is showing me. We removed habitat and food/water sources , made the land as open as possible , grass is kept short , dogs food and water is inside the house..........we did it all and still snakes appeared although in greatly reduced numbers until we put the shakers in the ground. Maybe they were the tipping point for the snakes , on top of the rest of our measures , they decided to avoid the area. Who knows how a snake thinks about such things. If you fail to remove the habitat and especially a food source then almost nothing will deter/repel a snake determined to get to a food/water source. Now you may like snakes so good for you , me not so much. I guess with a 1/4 acre block you either live in a city or a town so snakes aren't all that common when compared to the bush so your attitude to them is understandable. I on the other hand live on a 25 acre setting in amongst thousands of acres of farm/ grazing land that is just cherry ripe for the brownie and they are here in large numbers. In the bush good luck to you snakey boy , go for your life but you come onto my land and be seen then your lifespan is measured in seconds and I make no apologies to anyone for that attitude. I have lost too much to them in the past to have a live and let live attitude , especially the brown. You describe snakes as shy , yes to an extent most are but some like the brownie or the Taipan are certainly not shy especially when young. Fight or flight is the way of things and too many times have I seen these type of snakes , when young , take the first option almost immediately. Mature snakes are a different kettle of fish and will usually take the second option if possible. It should also be remembered that at various times of the spring to autumn seasons snakes will react differently. Early on they are very hungry and will become aggressive easily , same in late summer/autumn where the dual function for snakes is to hunt for the winter hibernation coupled with breeding season. At these times even the lazy RBB can become quite feisty very quickly. Now as for the vibrating snake repellers , do they work or not ? My evidence says that used as part of a defensive system then they are effective in the role they are designed for , others may find that not to be the case although I would suggest that some people might think merely by deploying these devices that they are safe from snakes. However I don't believe it is my place or yours gillybob to state categorically that they do or don't work. I f someone feels that deploying them as a part of a defensive system then who are you gillybob to say not to , same as its not my place to say to use them.

Hi , new to the forums ( will do an intro piece when I get the time). We live in the crossroads of the southern Riverina , perfect brownie country with a decent creek running a few hundred metres from our back fence , about 50 acres of bush in front of us , farms surrounding us with longish grass and the rest of the stuff that makes rural Australia just right for the brownie. When we moved here ( from QLD ) in 2014 we encountered brownies on almost a weekly basis all summer so we decided to do something about it. We removed anything that a snake could slither into , under or hide behind in the yard including raising the lowest level of all shrubs to around 500mm. The grass in the home yard is kept at a very low level all year round , the grass in the outer paddocks is burnt back in late August every year which makes movement for snakes difficult. We renovated the fences as much as possible , removed water sources , in short we did almost anything we could think of that would make life in our yard inhospitable for a snake. Still the next summer we had snakes although not anywhere near as many. During that summer we also installed inground snake repellers and almost instantly we had no more snakes in the yard , that we or the dogs could see or find. Now I am not going to say that the snake repellers are the ducks nuts and everyone should go out and get them , stick them in the ground and not worry anymore , that would be foolish. I do think however that they do work as intended IF AND ONLY IF you do all the other stuff and remain ever vigilant. I will say this though , it is more than mere coincidence that snakes were seemingly avoiding our yard ( others on the street have lost a total of 5 dogs to snakebite compared to our 0 ) since we cleaned up and installed the vibrating stakes. It is also more than mere coincidence that we had an young brownie intrude our yard and found only a few metres from the front door this afternoon then upon inspection discovering 3 out of 4 devices no longer worked. These were the battery operated version and have now been replaced with 4 new battery ones and 4 new solar types. However each should make up his own mind but to me any deterent is a good deterent because I cant estimate the cost of my dogs lives to me and a few days sweat and a few dollars is not even coming close to that cost.