Which towns does this page cover?

The council names Bowral, Moss Vale and Mittagong as the main towns, with the villages of Berrima, Robertson and Bundanoon. Give us your postcode and we look for a pest business near you that does that job.

Does the council remove European wasp nests on private land?

Wingecarribee Shire Council says that if you believe you have a European wasp nest on your property, you need to arrange a pest controller to deal with it. Our wasp nest removal page covers what happens next.

Pest control Southern Highlands: wasps, mynas and mice

Wasps near the house

Stay back from the entrance hole and keep pets away; don't block it or pour anything in. Wingecarribee Shire Council says people who are allergic to wasp venom, or stung many times, may react badly and need urgent medical attention. Call 000 for noisy breathing, a swollen tongue or throat, or collapse.

What's different in the Highlands

A wasp the council names

Wingecarribee Shire Council lists European wasps as one of the local insect pests to be aware of, and the Australian Museum records them in Bowral and Moss Vale. The council says their nests can hold over 100,000 wasps.

Nests you can't see

The council says nests are built underground, in wall or ceiling cavities, or in tree hollows, and usually show only as a small entrance hole. A nest on your property is yours to arrange a pest controller for, the council says.

Mynas moving out of town

The council says common mynas have become serious pests in urban NSW and are starting to spread into rural areas. It supports control through habitat changes that help native birds, plus a selective trapping program.

Up high, and cold

Wingecarribee Shire, which its council says is also known as the Southern Highlands, sits mostly at or above 640 m, and the council describes its winters as short, cold and mostly clear.

Myna or noisy miner?

The council warns that common mynas are often confused with the native noisy miner, and only one of them is a pest. The Australian Museum describes the common myna as brown with a black head, a yellow bill and legs, and bare yellow skin around the eye, with large white wing patches in flight.

Mynas favour the walls and ceilings of buildings for nests, so the job on a house is closing the gaps they use. Noisy miners are native and protected like other native birds in NSW, so leave them be.

Mice when the cold comes

CSIRO says cooler weather sends mice looking for shelter inside homes, and Wingecarribee Shire Council says rats and mice are common in both town and rural areas. The council describes the shire as predominantly rural, with farmland separating its towns and villages.

Look for small droppings in the pantry and gnaw holes up to 20 mm wide in skirtings and partitions, the size Victoria's health department gives for mice. Seal gaps around pipes and doors in autumn, before the first frosts.

Buying in Bowral, Mittagong or Moss Vale

A pre-purchase pest inspection looks for termites and other timber pests; a building inspection is a different job, which NSW Government advice suggests giving to a licensed builder, a surveyor or an architect. The same advice says get the pest inspection too, because a building report won't show whether termites are still around.

Ask the termite inspector what they'll need to reach: roof space, subfloor, outbuildings and the garden edges.

If we lived in the Highlands

Through summer and autumn, we'd watch the lawn edges and wall vents for a steady line of wasps going into one hole, and get it looked at while the nest is still small. Before winter, seal the small gaps that let mice in.

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.

What have you seen?