Kangaroo whistle - sonic repeller

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Hi all
Does anyone use a Kangaroo whistle / sonic repeller fitted to their cars?
Do they work?
After hitting a roo last weekend I'm considering getting one.
Cheers
 
I know people who swear by them and run 1 on each side but I don't believe they repell as stated, it is all in the luck of the draw, if the sound of a car hammering down the road doesn't scare them off do you think a whistle does? Dog whistles don't really work they just piss the animal off.
 
Nanjim said:
A good quality bull bar....
With scrub bars and side steps/ Rock sliders....
Works real well....
And a FBH or baseball bat to finish the job off.
 
Haven't read the whole thread, they are cheaper than a Bullbar. Hit another one myself last Saturday bloody annoying. Few months back totalled the radiator & aircon condenser + plastics. Saturday just broke some plastic, so I'm getting a Bullbar & the sonic thingies
 
Hi Dig'n it,

In my experience, kangaroos take no notice of these devices but wallabies mostly look up at you and watch you pass but for $5 for a couple of plastic thingies it is better a placebo than trying to win lotto.

Cheers

Doug
 
I used them on my round Aus. trip in 2007. I think I found a deaf Kangaroo - it didn't work.
I also noticed it didn't work on a herd of wild horses-10 of them crossed the road just in front of us as we drove thru the Kimberly's.
I have a steel winch bar just in case -NOW. I only had and aluminium nudge bar on that trip.
 
Can't hurt putting them on mate, but imo they're pretty useless, i had them on my wifes subaru and they were working fine until she it a 'deaf' roo over near Bendigo.
It's just luck of the draw i reckon if you clobber one, best advice i can give which i go by is try and avoid being on the road dawn (especially) and dusk when they're most likely out and about, and drive slower to at least avoid major damage if possible.
As you know i've got a bloody solid bull bar on my truck and i still drive according to the conditions in heavy roo areas.
 
I've hit heaps over the years & it's luck of the draw imo. I went about 6 or so years without hitting one until a few weeks ago - hit 3 in 3 weeks. First one smashed my driving lights; 2nd one no noticeable damage; 3rd one bent the bullbar, totalled drivers side front quarter panel, stuffed both doors (new skins), damaged rear quarter + sill & smashed or cracked nearly every bit of plastic trim down the driver's side. Cruise control was set at 92km so not going overly quick. Don't think a steel bullbar will solve your issues either - they just lesson the blow or can stop damage if you get them in the right spot. A bloke I work with lined a little one up dead centre & it went through the bullbar, smashed the front end & wrecked the radiator. Thousands in damage still. I've got a good steel bullbar but still try my best not to hit the buggers. So to those who tailgate blokes with bullbars your wasting your time behind me :D
Bloke I know here tried the shu roo thingys around his property + travelling in/out town. He noticed that where he could slowly go past a mob without the shu roo on most occasions they barely raised their heads. With the shu roos it would sometimes send them nuts & if on a track with fences they would hit the fences then bolt back onto the road. He removed them & I've never bothered trying them.
Know a lot of blokes at work that have them & a lot have still hit as many roos as the rest of us. Others just seem lucky like my 6 year run. Our road to work is rated as one of the worst for animal collisions in NSW.
 
I have the roo whistles fitted and have noticed a few roos on the sides of the road listening. Not sure if they would work if the roo was on the road in front of the car. I have fairly aggressive mud tyres on the car also which could also help warn roos that a car is coming. A friend of mine attracts all the roos for a 20km radius, he generally has about 5-6 hits every year. I guess he is just lucky. Ken.
 
Howdy all,

Sort of new here, not so new. I used to be here years ago, but i forgot the password/username combo and I have recently returned.
I like digging for gold, but this time im digging up a long dead thread.

Anyway, I was just scrolling through and couldn't help but throw in my 2 cents on this one.

I spent 3.5 years driving around Australia and I have spent 5 years traversing the townsville/cairns route by night. In both of these cases by hilux, with a smattering of wrx thrown in for earlier on in my trips between cairns and townsville.

With this information aside, I have never hit a kangaroo on any of these trips. I have hit the odd bandicoot, and had a near miss with a mob of cattle, but thats it.

In 2012, I bought my wrx and planned a trip to mt isa to visit my father. while buying toys at the local repco, i noticed the "roo shoo" ultrasonic roo repellents and purchased a set for the upcoming drive. i mounted them and later on that week, i headed to mt isa. so far so good.

On my return trip though, i was driving along when 2 roos (a mother and presumably a adolescent) decided to roll the dice of fate and challenge my wrx to a dual. Sadly neither survived. They did how ever make their presence felt by leaving their mark on my shiny new car.

The detail on this is irrelevant but long story short, my opinion on ultrasonic repellents is this:

They do not work.

Many many years of traveling demonstrated to me that its simply chance that causes these unexpected meetings.
 
the thing is Zyka, you dont know how many you didnt hit even having the whistles. They dont guarantee to prevent every roo strike.
Ive had a set of the good die-cast ones on my roo bar for 6 years now, & I do a lot of driving in high density roo areas, & where I would run over 3-4/yr, since having the whistles I have hit 2 in 2 separate years in that 6 year period. I do notice a fair few sitting off the side watching me coming but they seem intent on listening & often dont even move as I go past.
Note, in the region I mostly travel the roos are small - medium build. When in areas where I know there are big Western greys, or Big Reds (N/West) I drive slower with more diligence & avoid hitting them whether I had whistles or not.
Conclusion: the whistles arent expensive, & could save you your insurance excess, or a big outlay if you're not insured.
I believe they work in most circumstances, but the roos I ran over couldnt talk to tell me if they heard them or not :skull: :playful:
 
Fact:
My step father had them fitted to his car travelling from Braidwood to Canberra every day for work
Leave 0500 return 2000 approx
done this for years
Removed front bumper for repainting Roo shoo fitted to it as well
left for work the next day to go to work got 10k up the road hit a roo and wrote off the car

Fact: As far as we are concerned they work if kept clean

I have hit 3 Roos and 2 wombats
fitted Roo shoo and never hit another one in 4 years

Fact: They work

Remember this is only my opinion others may differ and i have no connection to that company
 
A long time back (20+yrs ago) I had a pair of plastic whistles on my roo bar. They were smaller than the die-cast ones I have now & were bad for getting blocked ... especially grasshoppers. I was forever cleaning the bloody things, & one eventually got taken out by a stone. The die-cast ones dont seem to get blocked very easily at all, & are tougher. I only ever have to poke a pin in them once or twice a year.
I would always recommend fitting the die-cast units over the plastic ones.
 
I have always had them fitted and 'Lion' brand is my preferred brand... in my opinion they work... I have had herds of Cows and Birds scatter when I approach and Roos sit up and watch me go past or move off the road... Even driving up to Cloncurry 3 times and lots of night driving each trip, We have never hit one...

Big 'Reds' seem to be the ones least affected by the whistle I found and I always slowed down if we saw one anyway... Just in case...

I knew a milk tanker contractor (Casino area) who had 3 tankers and different drivers, He had 1 fitted with the whistles(lion brand) and 1 fitted with an electronic Shoo Roo... The 3rd had nothing... He swapped the Trucks around on different routes and over 2yrs, the one with nothing hit the most roos, and the one with the Shoo Roo hit nothing in 2yrs... The whistle one hit 2 in the 2 years and he says both times a car went past just before he did and startled the roos... He won me over with them...

So for $10 as far as We are concerned they Work... QLD UNI did a series of tests around the mid 90's and says they ALL Don't Work... :rolleyes:

I have never seen a 4 legged Wombat on the road, but if I did, I would never try to hit it, Ken and twice... :( :playful: :lol:

Plenty of 2 legged ones driving on the roads tho... :lol:

Ouch, they would really hurt tho... Solid buggars... Much Damage? :eek:

And No I don't work for LION Consolidated either..... :koala:



LW....
 
Speed is a major factor in not hitting a roo , even with the shoo roo sonic device.

This is a screenshot from my dashcam from sunday morning at 2.25 am travelling at 84 kmh in a 100 kmh speed zone in thick kangaroo country.
I have a shoo roo / roo shoo ( whatever the correct name is ) and there were 2 giant roos that came from nowhere. One wanted a piece of my car and the other one ran the other way . So ,yeah , it is a bit of hit and miss with these things and they state that they are not 100 per cent guaranteed to scare off animals.
Drive sensibly and don`t be complacent. Kangaroos can come out of anywhere at any moment. I am still cleaning the brown stuff off my driver`s seat from what happened on sunday night.

1584905693_tworoos.jpg
 
Well I didn't buy any not because of price more so I've cleaned up plenty of roo's over the years and plenty of near misses. A shooy thingamagiggy doesn't and never will control the brain or decision making of any wildlife period. Take Hard Luck's advice and spend your coin at the bottle'o or on the needy people.
 

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