Is a pest inspection worth it when buying on the South Coast?

NSW Government advice is to get a pest inspection as well as a building report, because a building report won't show whether termites are still around. A seller's pre-sale report helps, but it's no substitute for your own.

Do you cover Moruya, Malua Bay and Narooma?

Yes. Give us your postcode with what you've found, and we look for a local pest business that does that job on your part of the coast.

Pest control Batemans Bay: mosquitoes, ticks and checks

What's different on the bay

Virus found in local traps

NSW Health found Barmah Forest virus in mosquitoes trapped at Apple Berry Place, Batemans Bay, on 14 January 2025 and again on 25 March 2025. A virus in trapped mosquitoes isn't a human case, but it tells you the season is active.

Two trapping sites on this coast

Batemans Bay and Narooma are coastal trapping locations in NSW Health's 2025 to 2026 mosquito surveillance, which runs each year from November to April.

King tides set off saltmarsh mosquitoes

NSW Health notes that tides above 1.8 metres can trigger the saltmarsh mosquito, Aedes vigilax, to hatch on the NSW coast. Around the Clyde estuary, a big tide can mean a burst of bites soon after.

Not on the JEV list, as at July 2026

NSW Health's Japanese encephalitis high risk list, as at 30 July 2026, didn't include Eurobodalla. That can change, so check NSW Health rather than relying on this page.

Ticks: the season and what to do

NSW Health says ticks live in bushland, long grass and other humid places along the east coast, and suggests avoiding those areas, especially after rain. The paralysis tick's larva is most active in autumn, the nymph in winter and the adult in spring, NSW Health Pathology says.

An attached tick can look like a small dark freckle, scab or mole, or feel like a lump. Don't squeeze it or pull it; NSW Health's advice is to freeze it with an ether-based spray from a chemist. Ticks can cause allergic reactions including anaphylaxis, so call 000 if someone has trouble breathing.

A house that sits empty

If the house is closed up for weeks at a time, nobody sees the early signs: droppings in the pantry, a chewed packet, mud tracks on a stump. Rats and mice chew woodwork, electrical cables and food containers, Rockhampton Regional Council says, and a quiet house suits them.

When you arrive, open up and walk the place before unpacking. Check the pantry, under sinks and around the hot water system for droppings, and look along the subfloor edges and garage for mud tubes. If you find mud tubes, leave them unbroken and photograph them for a termite inspector.

Before you lock up and leave

Take all food out of the pantry, or store it in sealed hard containers.
Empty bins, buckets, pot bases and anything that will hold rainwater.
Fix dripping taps and check the gutters drain, because damp attracts termites.
Close gaps under doors and around pipes.

What we'd do about pests in Batemans Bay

For a house that's often empty, regular termite inspections and a walk-through on every arrival catch most problems early. For the people in it, repellent, long pants in the bush and a tick check after walks.

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.

What have you seen?