Gumby,

Thanks; I went one better and got a $3 snake, and it works like a charm; and throwing offcuts at the swallows has finally encouraged them to look elsewhere than my shed for a nest site.

Eastie,

I used to have a rambutan orchard near Darwin, but I found that the only thing that was effective against the flocks of rainbow lorikeets, which could strip off all the fruit in a day, was to net the trees - not an easy task once the trees grew taller than 4 or 5 metres.

Rocker