shoo roo things

jazig.k · #1 (**permalink**) 03-20-2007, 08:00 PM

we've got a bit of a problem here with kangaroos as iv almost hit 3 in the space of 2days.
do those little black whistles work and do they have to mounted in the most ugliest position possable before they work or can i fit them under the front of the car

py105 · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2007, 11:48 PM

I have relatives that live in rural QLD and they reckon they work very nicely indeed. Im not sure about the mounting points.

scott.venables · #3 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 02:52 AM

I think you can put them anywhere just so long as they're in a constant stream of air. Definitely cheap insurance, and if they don't work it's only $5.

Cheers, Scott

evilgidget · #4 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 04:20 AM

Waste of $5 - They work due to the mindset that you get that they "must work because they say they work"

They rely on a smooth, level flow of air at a particular speed in order to work.
Mounted on the front of a car, the air is forced anywhere but level and last time I checked it was near impossible to the required speed down to the .002m/sec velocity that they require to operate.

The electric ones work sometimes, but you have to turn them off in built up areas, or else someone like me will come & forcibly remove it from the car in order to stop it from screeching. It's a godawful noise, I recommend standing in front of one working for 10 minutes before you form your opinion on them, but I don't doubt after about 2 minutes, you'll understand why I don't like them...

How's this - You know there's a 'roo problem in the area. How about you drop 5kph off the speed & keep a good lookout instead?
Costs you nothing to install, saves $$$ on fuel 'cause you're driving more carefully & you'll probably also miss that kid next week - they don't seem to hear 'roo charms...

py105 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 05:13 AM

Ok dont worry about me, I was thinking about something entirely different...

scott.venables · #6 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 05:45 AM

There you go. Spend the $5 on some better lights or something.

getagrip · #7 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 05:55 AM

Fortunately, kids dont generally have a habit of seeing cars, and then trying as hard as they can to run in front of you. Kangaroos, and in my case wallabys, will perform the most bizarre acrobatics to get in front of your car. They just dont get it.

You usually get plenty of time to react because they will change their minds 4 times and mostly you will miss them, but .... one in every 20 or 30, will go the wrong way. They're a fact of life on (my) country roads particularly early am and at dusk, as in getting to work and back.

I'd be interested in anything that actually works, (and I'm getting a bit deafer! Have you got sensitive hearing Evil or are they that loud? I thought they ran at frequencies beyond human ranges?)

I've had to buy 3 left hand headlights in 18 months for my last 33, so my budget for a "wallaby scarer" is about the same as the GDP of a 3rd world nation.

py105 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getagrip

I've had to buy 3 left hand headlights in 18 months for my last 33,

getagrip · #9 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 06:43 AM

Hmm. Fraid so.

jazig.k · #10 (**permalink**) 03-21-2007, 07:28 AM

$5 on better lights for these cars is about a bottle of windex and a cloth to clean the light with. $10 isnt much else besides a microfibre cloth and maybe the 500ml bottle.
maybe i should go for the old folks/country hicks idea and get myself a bull bar bigger than my area of vision... should at least kill the roo and the family crossing the road...

**italiansedanman** · #11 (**permalink**) 03-22-2007, 04:28 AM

I disagree. I think they work.

About ten years or so ago, I drove a VW Kombi across the Nullarbor. We fit a set of those $5 jobs on the 'roo bar', maintaining the "its only $5 attitude" and a great deal of synicism.

Amazingly, there were more than a few occasions where we saw roos hopping towards the path of the van and then turning away. I remember noticing this 'phenomenen" a couple of times before I gave the $5 devices any serious thought.

But hey, that Kombi did over 20 thousand country and outback kilometeres in about 5 years and there wasn't even a brush with a kangaroo. Possibly coincidence, but possible that they worked. We still talk about them to this day when we talk about those trips!

**italiansedanman** · #12 (**permalink**) 03-22-2007, 04:31 AM

Hey getagrip, nice to see another Northcoaster on the BB. If you're ever in Byron come and have a coffee at the cafe and talk Alfas!

getagrip · #13 (**permalink**) 03-22-2007, 04:53 AM

Hey Ben!, (yeah, it's Gerard, there aint that many Alfa's in Nimbin!). I was up your kinda way today too. Down to Whyralla through Rous? and Meerschaum Vale. Back down Dalwood to town etc. Wonderful drive! Plenty of nice bendswinging.

**italiansedanman** · #14 (**permalink**) 03-22-2007, 05:09 AM

Holy crap Gerard! David Fisher already cant believe this BB that I am always telling him about, now someone that he knows!! You still got the Alfetta? It would be good to see you at the cafe, as in as long as we've known each other we've still not met. Are you still with Mountaintop?

We just bought a house in Suffolk Park, but we are at Dalwood once a week or therabouts.

Stay in touch.

getagrip · #15 (**permalink**) 03-22-2007, 05:25 AM

Hah! Some proof for David's cyberspace perceptions!

Yeah, I've still got my 116GTV, but I've been driving boxers for the past couple of years because they're such briliant little cars! Cant bring myself to sell off the GTV though. Sort of a luxury Go-Kart!