Small ants and a mound of loose soil?
Leave it completely alone. Don't disturb, treat or move the nest, keep pets away, take a clear photo if you can, and contact the NSW Biosecurity Helpline. That's a report, never a pest booking. For a severe allergic reaction, call 000.
What's particular to Strathfield
The Enfield fire ant response
Strathfield Council says the state's primary industries department is running the response to the nest at the Enfield Intermodal Logistics Centre, and its community drop-in ran at Strathfield Park until 30 October 2026. The control order limits moving turf, mulch, soil and potted plants inside its area. Check the NSW Government's fire ant page for the current map rather than guessing.
Wasps go to a pest business
The council's own advice is to ring a local pest control company for wasps. A nest on council property is different: report that one to its Customer Service team.
Bee swarms depend on whose land it is
Bees on private property are the landowner's responsibility, and the council points to the Amateur Beekeepers Association of NSW for swarms. It only takes a swarm off public property when it's a hazard and unlikely to move on.
The Cooks River
The river runs through Belfield, Strathfield South and Strathfield, with parkland along much of its foreshore, and the council still calls it heavily polluted. If you back onto it, keep rubbish and stacked timber away from your fence line.
Termite treatment in Strathfield
Damaged wood is how most owners find out. In a CSIRO survey of homes with termites, 86% noticed them through damaged wood, 34% through mud tubes and 8% through wings. If you find either, leave them undisturbed, because several control options rely on the termites still being active.
In NSW, anyone who got or renewed a pest licence after 17 December 2021 needs the timber pest management technician licence to do timber pest treatments. Licences go to the person, never the company, so ask to see the photo card. Our termite treatment page explains the options, and termites in Sydney has the local picture.
Rats: your part and the technician's
You can
- Clear rubbish and stacked timber from the yard.
- Keep the grass short.
- Store food in sealed containers.
- Pick up fallen fruit and nuts.
Leave to a pest business
- Finding how rats are getting into the roof or walls.
- Placing bait stations (locked boxes that hold rodent bait).
- Proofing gaps you can't reach.
What we'd do about pests in Strathfield
Rule out fire ants first if the ants are small and there's loose soil. For anything else, note where and when you saw it, then tap it with your postcode. If the house hasn't had a termite inspection lately, we'd ask about one while someone's coming out anyway.
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.
