Shailer Park, in the City of Logan
An estate suburb
Logan City Council says Shailer Park takes in the estate marketed as Kimberley Park from 1973, and that the area was officially named a suburb in 1991.
The Grey Ghost
Arborists have dubbed a 290-year-old blackbutt here the Grey Ghost. At about 43 metres it's Logan's tallest known tree, in a suburb the council describes as mostly suburban development.
Mosquitoes are your job at home
The council says that under the Public Health Regulation 2018 you must prevent mosquitoes breeding on your property. As little as 100ml of water can produce up to 400 adult mosquitoes.
What an established estate home should check
CSIRO says renovations, garden changes, slab movement and insecticide depletion can all weaken a termite barrier, which is why inspections need repeating. On an older estate home, the first question is what was put in, and when. In modern buildings, the National Construction Code requires a notice of the termite system, usually in the meter box, so look there first.
Subterranean termites usually forage within 30 metres of their nest and occasionally 100 metres or more, so the nest needn't be on your block. Mention any big old tree or stump to the inspector. If you spot mud tubes, leave them alone and say where they are.
Logan's mosquito list for your yard
- Tip out water in pot plants, buckets, tarps and tyres.
- Keep gutters clean so they drain.
- Fit mosquito-proof screens or flap valves on every rainwater tank opening, overflows included.
- Check that tank screen mesh is 1 mm or less.
Possums, and the one report
Logan City Council says a few nest boxes in the garden can benefit local wildlife, and could even keep a possum out of your roof. If one's already up there, it's protected in Queensland: an operator licensed for the work can catch it, must release it within 25 metres, and the gaps still need repairing.
Fire ants aren't a job at all. Suspected nests in a Logan yard go to Biosecurity Queensland, online or by phone, and Queensland law gives you 24 hours.
What we'd do on a Shailer Park block
We'd check the meter box for a termite notice, book an inspection if the last one's a distant memory, and walk the yard after rain tipping out anything that holds water. Then tell us what's left.
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.
