Reptile catchers raise doubts over snake repellers, snake-proof fencing
It’s peak snake season but veteran reptile catchers are warning homeowners to steer clear of snake repellers, claiming the reptile deterrents are “ripping people off” and lulling Australians into a false sense of security. Here’s why.
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Australians are spending thousands on snake repellers and snake-proof fencing, but professional serpent catchers claim the reptile deterrents are “scams” and do not work.
Mark Pelley, widely known as the Snake Hunter, said a third of his call-outs were at properties where either snake repellers or snake-proof fencing had been installed.
It comes after one his busiest snake seasons on record where he caught “hundreds” of the venomous reptiles across Melbourne’s northeast last summer.
Snake repellers are stakes in the ground which let off high-pitched sounds and then release waves of vibrations into the earth. They are supposed to scare off any nearby snakes.
But Mr Pelley said sight and smell were the primary senses of a snake.
“There is a very big misconception that snakes can hear and feel these vibrations in the ground and get scared off — they can hear but very poorly and they can feel but also very poorly,” he said.
“I go to so many homes and I’m finding snakes in and among these snake repellers, wrapped around them and everything. They’re not effective.”
Snake repellers are sold online across Australia and on the shelves at major hardware stores including Bunnings and Mitre 10.
Mr Pelley also said snakes could easily get past snake-proof fencing by crawling around them, with baby snakes able to crawl right through the barriers.
He said manufacturers were taking advantage of people’s fear of snakes.
“I know of many people who have spent hundreds, even thousands on these repellers and snake-proof fencing and they just don’t work,” he said.
“Last snake season I went to a kindergarten in Diamond Creek which had spent thousands on this stuff, but I was there catching a tiger snake in the middle of the day while kids were around.
“These people then feel ripped off and even angry at how they’ve been misled — there are things you can do to protect yourself from snakes, but not completely and this is the message that we need to be getting across.”
Black Snakes Productions operator Michael Alexander, who teaches venomous snake safety to schools, councils and other organisations across the country, said snake repellers were a “scam”.
“For 15 years I was snake catching and I caught countless wrapped around these repellers,” he said.
“There is no proof they work. I’ve caught many at factories beneath the West Gate Bridge where there has been heavy machinery around and out at farms where there have been herds of cattle.”
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Mr Alexander said repellers lulled homeowners into a “false sense of security” and he encouraged people to “go back to basics” instead.
“Just keep a neat and tidy property, don’t leave shoes out, be cautious of your surroundings and don’t try catching them on your own if you encounter one,” he said.
Tee-Zed Products business marketing manager Chris Mar said their snake repellers worked day and night to help repel snakes, mice, rats and other rodents and were most popular in spring and summer.
“The repellers are simply inserted into the ground and work by emitting a combination of a sound and vibration pulse which pests find extremely piercing, thereby repelling them,” he said.
“Snake and pest repellers are popular with most sales occurring during the snake season in Australia that runs from spring through to the end of summer each year.”
Pestrol and Sureguard which also stock snake repellers in hardware stores across Australia were contacted for comment.