If you see a snake
Don't approach it or try to catch it. Keep people and pets well back and watch it from a distance. For a snake bite, call 000, apply a pressure bandage, keep the person still and don't wash the bite.
What's different in Armadale
Bushland on two landscapes
The City looks after more than 115 bushland reserves, from Marri and Jarrah woodlands on the Darling Scarp to Banksia woodlands on the Swan Coastal Plain. If your block backs onto one, expect more wildlife than a pest business can or should do anything about.
Who moves a snake
City rangers can't relocate snakes from private property, so you'll need a qualified snake handler. In a City park, sporting reserve or playground, report it and the City arranges relocation. The City says most bites happen when people try to catch one.
Ross River in the Piara area
The City says routine Department of Health surveillance detected Ross River virus in mosquitoes in the Piara Nature Reserve area. That's a virus in mosquitoes, not a count of human cases. Its Mosquito Management Plan 2024 to 2027 covers public land, and your block is yours to manage.
House borer zones
DPIRD's list dated 16 February 2022 includes European house borer zones named Armadale and Darling Scarp, which limit moving pinewood. Check your own address on DPIRD's map. Oval exit holes in untreated pine, with powdery dust below them, are the sign to report to DPIRD.
Rats bring snakes
The City says rats and mice are commonly seen in the colder months as they look for shelter in buildings, and they can damage conduits and wiring. DBCA's advice for keeping reptiles away starts in the same place: control rats and mice around the house and sheds.
Clear what they're after. DBCA suggests tidy sheds and gardens, covered compost and blocking access underneath sheds. If they're already in the ceiling, that's a job for a pest business.
Your part, and the pest business's
You can
- Tip out water-holding containers around the home and garden.
- Use a repellent with DEET or picaridin, and cover up at dawn and early evening.
- Prune low branches off shrubs so reptiles have less shelter.
- Note where and when you see droppings or hear noises.
Leave to a pest business
- Termite inspections and any treatment.
- Rats and mice in the roof or walls.
- An inspection for house borer in untreated pine, by someone with that training.
- Paper wasp nests near doors. A suspected European wasp goes to DPIRD instead.
Bees on your block
A hive on private property is the owner or occupier's responsibility, says the City, which suggests a local beekeeper or pest controller. Keeping your own needs written approval, generally up to two hives on a residential lot, 10 m from any boundary fence unless it's screened.
If we backed onto bushland
We'd tidy the sheds, deal with any rats, and check the address on DPIRD's borer map. We wouldn't expect a pest business to fix the wildlife, because that's part of living here. Anything else, tell us what you've seen 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.
