Life beside the mountain
Two big reserves
Brisbane City Council puts Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve at 91 hectares and Toohey Forest Park at about 260 hectares. Together they hold more than 400 species of native wildlife and plants, from koalas and echidnas to owls and bats.
What hurts the bush
The council's heritage listing says domestic pets, feral animals, and dumped garden and household waste are harming the Outlook's bushland. Clippings over the back fence do no favours, and piles like that give rats cover.
Sugar gliders on the record
The council's 2010 gliders statement lists Toohey Forest and surrounding suburbs for sugar glider records. A small night visitor in a tree isn't automatically a rat.
Bulimba Creek
Flood alerts for the area read from Bulimba Creek at Edwards Park and Greenwood Street. Mount Gravatt, Mount Gravatt East and Upper Mount Gravatt all use 4122.
Keeping a bush-edge yard in order
- Compost or bin your clippings instead of dumping them past the fence.
- Bring pet food in overnight, because it feeds more than your pet.
- Trim branches that touch the roof, from the ground.
- Keep firewood off the ground and clear of the house walls.
- Check gutters for water sitting after storms, a favourite spot for container mosquitoes.
Is it a job for a pest business?
A lone huntsman or a skink in the laundry isn't. Termites, rats in the ceiling, cockroaches that won't go and wasp nests near a doorway are.
Possums sit in between. They're protected in Queensland, so the job is finding the gap and closing it once the possum's out, with any catch and release done by someone licensed for it, within 25 metres.
On a termite inspection, ask to see what's installed and what couldn't be reached. Termite work in Queensland takes a QBCC licence alongside the pest licence. Buyers wanting a building and pest inspection in Mount Gravatt should know we pass on the timber pest half only.
One to report, not treat
Suspected fire ants go straight to Biosecurity Queensland. You've got 24 hours under Queensland law, and it's never a job for our form.
What we suggest
Keep your garden waste out of the bush and your house edges clear, then get the yearly termite check done. If something's inside, 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.
