Found a flying-fox on the ground?
Don't touch it. Keep people and pets away and contact Hunter Wildlife Rescue. Lake Macquarie City Council said in October 2026 that flying-foxes across eastern Australia were short of natural food, and many were weak and exhausted. Bites and scratches are how diseases like Lyssavirus and Hendra virus spread.
What's different in Toronto
The Blackalls Park camp
Flying-foxes camp next door at Blackalls Park, and the council's counts for August and September 2025 took in the neighbouring Toronto wetlands. It planted more than 25,000 native plants at the site between July and October 2023, to draw the camp further from homes.
Droppings and rainwater
The council says to try to avoid flying-fox droppings, including in water from rainwater tanks. If your house runs on a tank, that's worth thinking about.
Stoney Creek and Fennell Bay
NSW SES calls Toronto a lakeside suburb that's prone to flooding, and says Stoney Creek and its tributaries drain into the lake at Fennell Bay. Toronto and Blackalls Park are named among the key flood areas, so low parts of a yard can stay wet.
Small water counts
The council says a very small amount of water is enough for some mosquitoes. By the lake, it's the saucers, tarps and pot bases you can do something about.
Noise in the trees, or noise in the roof?
Flying-foxes are loud, but they're in the trees, and that's not a job for anyone we'd match you with. Noise inside the ceiling is different. Light scratching and gnawing at night points to rats or mice, and heavy thumping to a possum.
Rodent control is an ordinary pest job. A possum isn't: it's protected in NSW, so read possums in Newcastle before anyone climbs into the roof.
Termite inspection by the lake
In a CSIRO survey of homes with termites, damaged wood was how 86% noticed them, mud tubes 34% and wings only 8%. So a termite inspection looks at timber, footings and damp spots rather than waiting for a swarm.
Council policy leaves termite protection to the owner, so it's your call when to book. A leaking tap or overflow by the wall is worth fixing first.
If we lived by the lake
We'd leave the flying-foxes to the people who look after them, clear the small water around the house, and get a termite inspection on the calendar. For anything inside the walls or ceiling, 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.
