What's different around the bay
The park is the back fence
NPWS calls Tomaree National Park the backdrop to Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay, One Mile, Boat Harbour and Anna Bay. If your yard runs up to that bush, expect more wildlife than a street in town.
Ticks in spring
NSW Health says ticks are common in bushland and long grass along the east coast, especially after rain. NSW Health Pathology says you're most likely to meet the adult paralysis tick from September to December.
Koala country
A 2018 NSW committee report shows koala records concentrated from Heatherbrae and Raymond Terrace across to Shoal Bay. Koalas and possums are both protected in NSW, so what lives in the trees isn't a pest job.
Tides on the western side
NSW SES says Fullerton Cove fills and spills into the Tilligerry Creek floodplain, and that flooding around Salt Ash, Williamtown and Tomago is mostly local runoff. NSW Health notes tidal inundation matters as well as rain for coastal mosquitoes.
Found a tick on someone?
NSW Health says not to squeeze it or try to pull it out. Freeze it with an ether-based spray from a pharmacy instead. If the person has a known tick allergy, leave it where it is and get urgent medical help. If someone's struggling to breathe, call 000.
Thumping in the roof, this close to the park
If it's heavy and it starts around dusk, think possum. In NSW it's illegal to trap one, or catch and release one, without a licence. Anyone who holds that licence must let it go at dusk, no more than 150 metres from where it was caught, near something it can climb.
So the real answer is proofing: find the gap, make sure the possum has gone out for the night, then close it up. The possums in Newcastle page has the rules in full.
Indoors, the beach changes nothing
The list inside a house is the same as anywhere in the Hunter: termites, rats and mice, cockroaches and wasps. Renting a place out? NSW landlords are generally responsible for pests at the start of a tenancy, so sort them before the next tenant moves in.
Around a block near the bush
- Keep grass short along the boundary, where ticks wait.
- Trim branches back so they don't give possums a bridge to the roof.
- Keep firewood up off the ground, well clear of the house.
- Tip out anything holding water each week.
What we'd do about pests in Port Stephens
Work out whether it's a possum before anyone quotes, because that decides who can do the job. For ticks and mosquitoes, the yard list above does a lot of the work. For anything else you've seen, tap it with 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.
