Tina2

A bit of an update. Despite spraying with confidor the fiddle wood and Geisher Girl Trees continue to loose leaves and have branches die. Now the people next door are concerned about there Liquid Amber trees. Both mature trees, and on the other side of the boundry fence to our fiddlewood trees. Now all there leaves are turning yellow and starting to fall with branches rapidly dying.

Dont do well here bob have tried. 7 km up the road the soil changes to brown and they have wonderful displays of Azaleas and Rhododendrons. I have a lilac tree that is "alive" very suprised by that. It is very much trial and error here. Even bottle brush trees struggle.

Hi Bob OK thanks for that didnt know QUT would do that. I checked the PH levels and it is pretty much Just edging towards acidic around 6.5

The tree doc asked for photos before he came out and at first thought it was a "root bora" beetle ! We are not only spraying but pouring confidor around the roots in a bid to save the trees. So annoyed as where we live we have awful soil and to get anything to grow is so hard and takes years and if we loose these trees it will wipe out all the big trees which give shade to the garden and house

That is correct. We had a small farm in NSW and breed Alpaca. We had a red bellied Black living in the pump shed. They are pretty passive and one snake I dont mind because they will chase Brown Snakes out of the area. We never had a death from snake bite in the herd unlike many other local breeders. I could walk past it ( well it was about 20 foot away from me and it would either slither away or just watch and ignore me. Brown Snakes are a very different matter, they are very agressive and scare the you know what out of me.

We are now well into spring. Then a strange thing started to happen. We have 4 mature beautiful Fiddlewood Trees in the back garden that give us shade and privacy, but we noticed some of the leaves turning yellow. Its dry here so we assumed lack of water, so we started to give extra water, but the yellowing quickly turned to leaves falling just like Autum. Then the bare branches started to die. We called a Tree Doctor on Friday and he told us back in about 1996 a beetle was released to kill off lantarna, the fiddlewood tree is a member of the lantana family ! Sadly those involved in the release of this beetle didnt think to test if it would attack fiddlewood trees. The tree doctor told us that to start there was only a couple of trees on the list that might be effected by this beetle, but now that list is growing ever longer. There is now concern for Jacarandah, hibiscus, the Geisher Girl Tree to name a few. This beetle hates heat so if you are in a hot area you should be OK. Treatment is Confidor, both pouring 1 to 100 liquid around the base of the tree, and spraying the leaves. You need to act as soon as you see leaves turning yellow, as this beetle will kill the tree. We have lots of dead branches but are fighting to save what green branches we have left. It is also known as "over wintering" Just thought this might help someone else.

well YOU are very welcome to come and catch it LOL, I am now checking the back garden 2 or 3 times a day looking for the rotten thing.

Thank you for this, well they hate vibration so running the ride on along the fence every day may at least move it from near my fence to another part of next doors yard. Thanks for everyone's help and advise. Anyone out there who wants a snake you are welcome to come and get it LOL

We have not had rain in weeks so maybe this is the issue, it is looking for water. We came home from town just last week, the back way via a lot of farmers paddocks and saw 2 dead ones on the road, so something is making then far more active

No ponds or frogs here only thing we have is the grey water that comes out to water the back lawn but even that is only for a short time. There is not even any real bush around Oh having said that the property at the back of the property that has the snake is across a quite road from a bit of scrub so maybe it did come looking for water. I have now removed the dogs water bowl so his water is in the house. Scary though as apparently it was "huge"

Gee thanks I really needed that.

A day ? Really ? Oh that would make me very happy. I hate snakes. I am still going to try that natural spray, I guess just doing something will make me feel a little better. I intend to spray next doors bricks. Maybe if they see me spraying them they may get the message I am not happy with them being there and they may get around to moving them.

Interesting as it has cloves in it which is what dog forums are saying works. Its natural and right now I am willing to try anything so I will be giving this a try. I intend to print it off and give it to the neighbours and ask them to spray there bricks.

Agree, that is our main concern. As I said I will be locking the dog inside when we go out from now on. Bristolman, how long do they normally hang around ? Not been seen before so it may hopefully be passing through. I mean it is not likely to set up home in the neighbours garden is it ?

Thanks Cal Would appreciate that. We are on 1/2 acre . I have even heard people are trying the mesh that goes around bails of hay and attaching that to fences but I am sure they would just slither under the bottom of the fence. I have my first aid kit now sitting on the kitchen bench - just in case LOL.

Oh trust me I have NO intention of going anywhere near the snake LOL. I know they are dangerous, it is the little dog that worries me. We normally give him free access to the garden when we are out, but for the moment I think he is going to get locked in the house.

Thanks, very aware of that but what do you do when the neighbours stack all there unused bricks on there side of the boundary wire mesh fence and I am talking a "lot" of bricks. The last thing we want is a disagreement with neighbours. I did suggest today they might want to sell them but sadly they are sure they will want them as "some point" Do you know anything about "shoo snake" I have seen the solar ones but have no idea what shoo snake even is. Did some googling and someone even suggested boiling cloves in water and mixing with detergent and spraying it along the fence line. Not sure what to do. Dont even know if it is likely to hang around and decide that this is now its new home or if it will simply "move on"

About 20 minuets north west of Toowoomba CBD. Not isolated lots of houses around. No idea where it came from but it has me worried.

The next door neighbour had a "large" brown snake in there yard today. They called the snake catcher but as it had gone into a pile of bricks they have stored along "our" boundary fence the snake catcher didn't want to disturb it !? Really worried it will come into our yard and we have a small dog who will chase anything that moves. Has anyone out there tried using any of the Snake repellents on the market ? I know there are solar type ones to sit in the garden and something called shoo snake. Some people say they don't work others say they work but that could just be someone who is associated with the maker of these products. Would love to hear if anyone on here has used one. Our yard is large but kept well mowed and no junk lying around.

Thats bad news bob, they will kill thousends of native species if something is not done. Time for a bounty on there revolting heads.

Well that is good news though I hear they are heading for the NT which would be awful.

The way the cain toad is spreading it may well end up where ever you are. We need a bounty on every cane toads head. 10c a cane toad. Not killed with the golf club but put in a bag in the freezer.

We lived in graceville for many years just a minuet from the river. Never saw them in the yard but we would walk the dog in the eveniing down by the river and spoke to several dog owners who had now learnt to keep there dogs on a very short leash, after several near misses in the long grass and one sadly fatal to a much loved pet. So shall we now walk about Cain toads ?? Nasty Nasty things. LOL

As others have said it will be HOT and sticky. Mozzies are an issue so make sure you cover up especially around dusk and if you dont have fly screens you will need to get mozzie nets to hang over the beds. Mozzie bite like midges, and itch but some can also carry quite a nasty illness like ross river fever and denge fever. Get mozzie repelant from the chemist. It is also cyclone season not trying to concern you, but it is best to be prepared so have a look at the council web site http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/community-environment/natural-disasters. When buying or renting ask about cyclone rating on the building. All new building must be cyclone rated, just the older home that you need to check.

If you are in the centre of Brisbane you should be fine, but if going out for walks around the parks and especially the river, stay out of the long grass - just in case one is asleep in there. Not just snakes, spiders can be a concern especially red backs, but just get your house sprayed once a year, and dont go doing gardening with out wearing gloves. All just sensible things, if you go bush walking check for ticks when you get back to the car or where ever you are staying. Tiny horrid things and can make you feel quite unwell, ticks like warm areas, so can attach to any part of you. I always wear a hat when going into the bush so ticks dont get on my head and a good pair of shoes.