Living beside the Yarra
Flying foxes
Boroondara names Yarra Bend Park for grey-headed flying foxes and says they sometimes visit local properties at night to feed on fruit or blossoms. They're protected under the Wildlife Act 1975 and considered vulnerable in Victoria, so a noisy fruit tree isn't a pest job. Never handle one.
Gliders
The council lists Willsmere Reserve among the places Krefft's gliders are found, and asks people to keep cats indoors at night to protect them.
Possums
Boroondara says not to feed possums, because that encourages more of them and can end in fighting and property damage. It also says it doesn't recommend trapping, and that a trapped possum can go no more than 50 metres from where it was caught.
Who's up there at night?
| Possum | Rat or mouse | |
|---|---|---|
| What you hear | Heavy running across the roof, deep coughs or sharp hisses | Light scratching, squeaking or gnawing |
| When | Leaves at dusk to feed, comes back to sleep by day | Through the night |
| The fix | Closing the way in, under Victoria's wildlife rules | Sealing gaps, then a pest business if they're established |
| Trapping | Illegal for a ringtail without a permit, tightly limited for a brushtail | Allowed |
Termite inspection or termite treatment?
They're two jobs. An inspection tells you whether termites are active and what's letting them in, and a written report is what you'd keep. Treatment only follows if something's found. It usually means a termite barrier (a chemical or physical layer that stops termites getting into the house unseen), baiting, or both, and the right choice depends on how the house is built.
If you do see mud tubes or soft timber, don't disturb them. Take a photo from where you're standing. Boroondara's property information covers whether a property is in a termite-prone area, but that's about building rules, not what's in your walls.
Our take on pests in Kew
Don't feed anything, keep branches off the roof, and find out what the animal is before you pay anyone. If it turns out to be rats, mice or termites, tap that with your postcode and start there.
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.
