Mount Cotton's hills and creeks
Head of the catchments
Redland City Council says its waterways start in the Mount Cotton hills from about 230 metres above sea level. Eprapah Creek's catchment covers most of Mount Cotton, and Native Dog Creek runs off the eastern side through the village and lakes.
Bushland on the edge
Upper Tingalpa Creek starts in the west Mount Cotton hills and Venman Bushland National Park reserve land. Homestead Place Wetlands, in Mount Cotton Village, is of local significance.
A koala safe neighbourhood
The council names Mount Cotton as a koala safe neighbourhood, with an identified resident koala population and koala strike on local roads. It asks people to keep dogs trained and secured inside at night.
Termite inspection on a bush block
Bushland doesn't prove termites are worse here, and nobody can tell you that from a map. What a bush block does give you is more timber close to the house: logs, stumps, retaining walls and firewood. Store what you can off the ground and away from the walls.
Look for damaged wood and mud tubes first, and if you find them, don't disturb them. For a Mount Cotton block we'd treat the QBCC's yearly inspection and report as the minimum, and ask the inspector whether yours should be more often.
Termite treatment near bush and water
If active termites turn up, the usual options are a treated layer of soil, or bait stations (locked boxes where termites feed on a slow acting insecticide and carry it back to the nest). Which one suits depends on the house and what's around it.
In Queensland, the person doing this work needs a QBCC licence as well as a pest management licence. Before anything goes down, tell the technician about tanks, dams, ponds, bees and dogs, so they can plan around them and tell you any precautions.
Possums in the roof
Redland City Council says possums are protected, can't be trapped or moved without a permit, and that contractors release a brushtail up to 25 metres away. It suggests scrunched up paper in the likely gaps during the day, to show where the possum comes and goes. Don't seal a gap until you're sure every possum has left for the night.
Our advice for a Mount Cotton block
We'd clear timber back from the house, get a termite inspection on the calendar, and ask any pest business how the plan works around tanks, dogs and wildlife. Then tell us what you've seen, with 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.
