Around Mount Barker
Bush just out of town
Totness Recreation Park is about 2.5 km from Mount Barker. Its 2007 management plan records ringtail possums, echidnas and bats there, with rural grazing land on its boundaries. Ringtails near the house are wildlife doing what wildlife does, and they're protected.
Koalas aren't a pest job
The same plan says koalas were introduced to the Mount Lofty Ranges and are now widespread, and that they live at Totness. One in your tree needs nothing from a pest business.
The Landscape Board is in town
The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board has its office in Mount Barker, at the corner of Mann and Walker streets, and its Eastern Hills and Plains team covers this council district. Rabbits, foxes and deer on rural land start there.
Feral deer reach this far
The eradication plan for Adelaide's fringe covers an area from Gawler to Mount Barker and down to McLaren Vale. If you see one, report it via FeralScan.
Noise in the roof at night?
Settle what it is first: possum, rat or something else. A possum tends to be heavy and regular at dusk and dawn, while rats sound lighter and scratchier. Droppings and any gap at the roofline will help a pest business tell which.
If it's a possum, South Australian law sets the limits. Any trapping needs a permit or a permitted controller, and the animal stays on your property: released within 50 metres of the capture spot, within 24 hours and after dusk. Lasting results come from closing the way in.
Mice, or a small native?
CSIRO says cooler weather sends mice looking for shelter in homes. Before you assume that's what you've got, know that the environment department says the yellow-footed antechinus gets mistaken for a house mouse in the Hills. A photo settles it.
Termites and wasp nests
No one publishes termite figures for Mount Barker, so judge your own place. Look for damaged wood and mud tubes first, then cracked paint or plaster, floors that have sagged and noises in the walls. If you find any of them, don't disturb them. Our Adelaide termites page covers what an inspection involves.
For a European wasp nest, keep everyone away from it and check with Mount Barker's council before booking. We haven't been able to confirm its current rule, and councils around Adelaide don't all treat nests the same way.
Good habits on a Mount Barker block
- Trim branches back from the roofline.
- Keep chicken feed, pet food and fallen fruit picked up, so there's less for rats and wasps.
- Store firewood off the ground and away from walls.
- Take a photo of anything unusual, from a distance, before anyone puts out bait.
If this were our place
We'd work out what's in the roof before doing anything about it, because the answer changes who you call. Once you know, or even if you only have a guess, tell us what you've seen and your postcode.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
