What's different in Northcote
An older suburb by the creek
Darebin Libraries says Northcote had its housing boom in the 1880s, on land first sold with frontages to the Merri Creek. The Merri Creek Reserve is still at St Georges Road. In a house this age, gaps under floors and along the roof line are the usual way in for rats and mice.
Rat poison travels up the food chain
Darebin warns that second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs, a strong kind of rat poison) harm owls, possums and other animals that eat poisoned rodents. It says the city is home to native wildlife from birds and bats to possums, frogs and lizards. So on a rat job, ask what's in the bait.
Build them out
Darebin's advice includes building pests out by sealing all gaps, so there's no way into the property. Council doesn't offer pest control itself, and asks you to make sure anyone you hire holds a licence.
What to ask before a rat job
- Will bait sit in locked stations (locked boxes that hold rodent bait), and where will they go?
- What's the bait's full product name, and is it an SGAR?
- What will you do about the way they got in, as well as the rats?
- Is a follow-up visit part of the job, and is that in writing?
- Do you need to know about kids, dogs or chooks at our place or next door?
Rats, mice or a possum?
Light, quick noises in a wall or ceiling at night, gnawed food packets and small droppings point to mice or rats. Heavier thumping, especially around dusk, is more likely a possum, which is protected and calls for a different job. Our Melbourne possum page explains the rules.
If rats are the issue, tidy up before anyone comes. Clear stacked rubbish, pick up fallen fruit and keep pet food inside overnight, and you'll give a treatment a much better chance.
Our take on Northcote
Close the gaps first and treat second, and be choosy about bait with so much wildlife around. If you're not sure what's in the roof, tell us what you've heard 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.
