Does the City spray my yard for mosquitoes?

The City's program includes checking and counting mosquito larvae in wetlands and salt marshes. Water lying around your own house is yours to tip out; a pest business can treat a yard if you want more, but it can't promise to prevent any virus.

Do you cover Dunsborough?

Yes. Put in your postcode with what you've seen, from Busselton out to Dunsborough and beyond.

What if the possum in my roof is a ringtail?

Western ringtails are smaller than brushtails, dark brown to dark grey, with a short-furred, white-tipped tail at least as long as the body. They're Critically Endangered, and DBCA asks for sightings to be reported. Tell the pest business before any work starts.

Pest control Busselton: termites, bees and mosquito season

What's different in Busselton

A council mosquito program

The City of Busselton runs a mosquito program every year, with the season running from August to January. Its staff check and count mosquito larvae in wetlands and salt marshes across the district.

Why the City bothers

The City says local mosquitoes can carry Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses, and WA Health names the coastal plain between Mandurah and Busselton as southern WA's highest risk area for both, in spring and summer.

European wasps have been found here

DPIRD lists Busselton and Donnybrook among the regional towns where European wasp nests have turned up. They're reported, not treated: contact DPIRD or use MyPestGuide Reporter.

Two kinds of possum

DBCA says the common brushtail and the western ringtail are WA's only two large possums, and both live in towns. The western ringtail is Critically Endangered, so if one's in your roof, the proofing has to be done with extra care.

Termite inspections for houses that sit empty

If your Busselton place is a holiday house or a rental you rarely see, nobody is walking around it noticing things. Termites work out of sight, so that's the house that gets the most from the yearly inspection WA's Building and Energy recommends.

Between inspections, the state suggests a look around every six months for mud tunnels on timber or the slab edge, and dealing quickly with leaking taps, downpipes and roofs, because damp attracts termites. If you're not there often, ask whoever manages the property to do that walk-around.

Bees in the wall, or a swarm passing through

A swarm resting on a tree or fence is usually on its way to somewhere else; a local beekeeper is the call if it lingers. Bees streaming in and out of a gap in the eaves or a wall have set up home, and that's a pest business job.

Keep children and pets clear of both, and don't try hosing or smoking them out.

Possums in the roof

Possums are protected native animals in WA, and DBCA says relocating them isn't considered humane. The fix is proofing: every gap but one closed, then the last one shut after the possum has gone out for the night. Our possum page explains how a good job runs.

Before you leave the house empty for a while

Tip out buckets, pot bases and anything else holding water.
Move firewood and stored timber away from the walls, raised off the ground and covered.
Check no garden bed or mulch has crept over the weep holes.
Note any mud tunnels, droppings or chewed wiring, and photograph them for the next inspection.

What we'd do about pests in Busselton

We'd book the yearly termite inspection for a time you're actually in Busselton, so you can walk around with the inspector. For bees, possums or anything else, tap what you've found 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.

What have you seen?