Rodent numbers, like those of many wild animals, fluctuate according to a number of factors, including the season.
In the Shire, maintenance of infrastructure, including weed/grass control in parks and drainage basins, helps to reduce harbourage opportunity for rodents.
The Department of Health provides advice on how you can protect your health and keep rats and mice under control.
There are different types of flies found in Western Australia, including non-biting, biting, predatory, pollinating and parasitic.
Besides being nuisance, flies can also carry bacteria which cause food poisoning and other diseases. Flies can be a serious nuisance to humans and livestock.
You can prevent flies breeding in and around your home by taking some basic steps:
- Make sure your mobile bin is clean and closed at all times
- Wrap all foods scraps tightly and place them in the bi immediately
- Don’t leave lawn clippings in heaps, rake them out thinly
- Dig any manures and fertilisers well into the soil
- Tightly wrap and dispose of any uneaten pet food
- Keep poultry and pet areas clean at all times.
Portuguese millipedes usually become highly active after the first rains. They are not harmful to animals or humans, but they can be a significant domestic nuisance when they invade homes and gardens in large numbers, usually in early autumn.
They are one of the few millipede species that are attracted to lights at night, and this is presumably why they invade homes. Different properties will be affected by these millipedes to greater or lesser degrees depending on varying situations.
Stable fly is an international insect that has become an aggravating pest in WA. It attacks humans, domestic pets and livestock. They will breed in any rotting or decaying organic matter such as ageing manure, rotting vegetable crops, rotting hay,straw, fermenting feed.
The key to control is managing its larval habitats, ideally removal or drying out.
Good management practices include:
- High speed mulching
- Regular removal of animal manure accumulation
- Placing reject vegetable produce into pits and covering regularly with soil
- Spreading manure and grass clippings into thin layers on the ground to dry out
- Regular removal of accumulations of spilled grain or other organic material in pens and yards.