Pests and Mosquito Management

While control activities help reduce mosquito numbers, mosquitoes are a fact of life in the South West. There are simple ways to protect yourself and your family from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases.

Enjoy Beinfg Outdoors! 

• Use fans to keep air moving on porches, decks and gazebos. 
• Use yellow lights outside which tend to attract fewer mosquitoes than ordinary lights.
• Limit the amount of time spent outdoors at Dusk & Dawn. That is when mosquito activity is at its greatest.
• Defend yourself when going outside by using insect repellent. 
• Dress in loose, light coloured long-sleeved shirts and pants and shoes and socks when you are outdoors in areas where mosquitoes are active. 
• Drain water from any place where it has been standing for four or more days.

To find out more visit Fight the Bite.

Keep the mosquitoes outside

• Ensure you have flywire screens on windows and doors.
• Ceiling fans and air conditioning are also effective in protecting yourself from mosquitoes.
• Use a mosquito net over your bed if your house is unscreened or you live in a mosquito breeding area.
• In the warmer months a small amount of  water in a container or puddle can breed more than 1000 mosquitoes each week. Check and eliminate mosquito-breeding sites in your backyard. Drain water from any place where it has been standing for four or more days.

The following non-chemical methods can be used to reduce or repel mosquitoes:

1. Remove Standing Water: Get rid of places where mosquitoes breed.
2. Use Nets and Screens: Install nets on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
3. Wear Protective Clothing: Cover up with long sleeves and pants or use mosquito-repellent clothing.
4. Apply Natural Repellents: Try natural oils like citronella, eucalyptus, or lavender to repel mosquitoes.
5. Plant Mosquito-Repellent Plants: Grow citronella, basil, mint, and other plants known to repel mosquitoes.
6. Use Traps and Zappers: Set up traps or bug zappers to capture mosquitoes.
7. Avoid Peak Activity Times: Stay indoors during dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.
8. Maintain Tidy Outdoor Spaces: Keep your surroundings clean and trim vegetation to reduce mosquito resting spots.
9. Light Mosquito-Repellent Candles: Illuminate outdoor areas with candles infused with citronella or other repellents.

These steps create a mosquito-unfriendly environment for your home and outdoor spaces.

The following chemical methods can be used to reduce or repel mosquitoes:

1. Mosquito Repellents: Apply insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus on exposed skin to deter mosquito bites.
2. Mosquito Coils and Mats: Burn mosquito coils or use electric mats releasing insecticides to repel mosquitoes indoors
3. Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS): Apply a residual insecticide product (one that remains on a surface for 1 – 2 weeks on patio and house eves, door and windows sills, paved areas and some garden areas (read instructions carefully).

If possible, consider a combination of chemical and non-chemical approaches for comprehensive mosquito control.

• Dispose or empty regularly all water holding containers including old tyres, buckets, trays, tins, scrap metal, bowls and discarded toys
• Ensure gutters are clean, free draining freely and do not hold stagnant water
• Keeping ornamental ponds stocked with mosquito-eating fish, e.g. goldfish, koi
• Empty pot plant drip trays once a week or filling them with sand
• Empty and clean animal and pet drinking water containers once a week
• Keep swimming pools well chlorinated, empty of leaves and run the filter once a day
• Repairing leaking taps and reticulation which can cause pooling of water
• Avoiding over watering lawns and sprinkler run off into storm water drains that create permanent pools of water in the storm water drain
• Fit mosquito proof cowls on the vent pipes of septic systems
• Screen rainwater tanks to prevent mosquitoes entering and laying their eggs on the water surface
• Ensuring that ornamental garden plant such as bromeliads, do not hold water.

Important note: Please note points above have variable effects depending on the size of the area and number of mosquitoes present and are provided as suggestions only.

For more information on mosquito control visit the Department of Health website.

To reduce rodent numbers on your property:

• Remove accumulations of disused materials and junk including building materials, woodpiles and old furniture etc.
• Prune and remove overgrown vegetation
• Remove fallen fruits and nuts from trees and rotting vegetables from vegetable gardens to reduce food sources for rats (this also assists with fly prevention)
• Ensure compost heaps/bins are covered and protected from rodent access
• Keep pet food dishes clean and only feed pets (including birds) enough food for the day
• Store pet food, poultry and bird feed in sealed air tight containers
• Clean out chicken pens and aviaries on a regular basis
• Set traps in areas of suspected harbourage
• Block any potential access points/holes around your home, such as around air conditioning services or electrical conduit entries into the roof cavity (please ensure that you do not seal up 'weep-holes' or other ventilation bricks required to remove moisture from your home cavities).
• Older properties in the Shire may have open eaves; chicken wire is a common method of preventing entry by rodents and other pests.

Alternatively, a licensed pest control operator may assist by completing a pest control treatment.

If your property is in vicinity of environmentally sensitive areas, threatened and priority ecological communities. There is a possibility that the species you observed are Western Australian native animals, some of which are threatened.

Baiting safely and effectively

Using rat baits can harm our native wildlife, birds, and pets through secondary poisoning. This has been observed in various species, including bobtail lizards, snakes, dingoes, and birds of prey.

To promote responsible rodent control, the Shire suggests:

1. Opt for Traps over Baits:Choose traps as a humane and effective method to control rats and mice without causing harm to wildlife.
2. Choose Less Harmful Baits: When using baits, opt for those containing the active ingredient coumatetralyl (e.g., Racumin) or warfarin. Ensure strict adherence to package instructions to minimize environmental impact.
3. Avoid Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs): Refrain from using rodenticides containing difenacoum, brodifacoum, bromadiolone, or difethialone.
4. Mindful Bait Placement: Exercise caution when storing and placing baits to prevent accessibility to pets and wildlife such as possums in your garden. Responsible placement is key to minimizing unintended harm.
5. Opt for Live Traps: Consider the use of live traps over lethal alternatives. Live traps offer the advantage of releasing unintentionally captured wildlife unharmed.

 *Note: Always exercise caution and read product instructions thoroughly before use.*

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.