Stung, or found a nest?
Keep people and pets away and don't disturb it. healthdirect's first aid is soap and water first, then an ice pack wrapped in cloth for 15 minutes. Call 000 for noisy breathing, a swollen tongue or throat, wheezing, dizziness or collapse.
What's different in Kingston
Wasps peak in autumn
NRE Tasmania says colonies reach full size towards the end of summer and are most troublesome in autumn. For European or English wasp removal, it says to use a registered pest controller.
Exotic paper wasps are a report, not a job
Exotic paper wasps are declared pests in Tasmania. Report a sighting to Biosecurity Tasmania and leave the nest alone.
Bush at the back fence
Kingborough Council's Algona Reserve has 15 hectares of bushland beside the Peter Murrell Conservation Area. Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service says the eastern barred bandicoot is common in those reserves, so not everything rustling at dusk is a rat.
Water through town
The council calls Kingston Rivulet a highly modified stormwater channel running through the township, and treats its runoff at the Kingston stormwater wetlands before it reaches Browns River.
Rodent control in Kingston
We couldn't find a Kingborough Council page on rats or mice, so we can't tell you what it covers. Don't assume City of Hobart's public land program applies here.
CSIRO says cooler weather sends mice looking for shelter indoors. Look for droppings, gnawing and greasy marks, and listen for scratching at night. Clear food, stack materials off the ground, and seal gaps. A pest business can find where they're getting in, and our rats and mice page explains the job.
Possums in the roof
Brushtail possums are protected in Tasmania and can't be taken without a permit. NRE Tasmania says moving one doesn't generally work, and that the moved possum usually dies. Its advice is to find where it gets in and out, and make temporary repairs. A trapping permit is a last resort with strict conditions.
How Tasmanian licences work
- A business offering insect and rodent control needs a Commercial Operator Licence.
- Technicians hold a Certificate of Competency, with a Pest Management Technician category.
- There's no public register to search, so ask to see both, or check with NRE Tasmania.
If it were our place in Kingston
Watch in late summer for a steady stream of wasps into one gap or hole, and get any nest near the house dealt with before autumn. Anything that looks like an unfamiliar paper wasp goes to Biosecurity Tasmania first. For the rest, tell us what you've seen.
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.
