Pests

Almost any animal can be a pest in the wrong environment. This page collates advice on dealing with the pest aspect of various animals.

See also:

Wildlife friendly pest control

Botanic Gardens - Pests and diseases

Organic gardening - insect pest & disease control

• use a mixture of borax and honey (or other liquid the ants desire, including sugar and caffeine-based soft drinks).

Start weak and strengthen to taste1): Add a pinch of borax to the above-mentioned liquid mix daily, slowly bringing up the concentration till the ants stop coming.

Start strong and dilute to taste: drop a pinch of borax into the above-mentioned liquid mix. If the ants ignore it, dilute it a little until they go for it.

A teaspoon per 100ml is probably the final concentration. If you get the dosage right, you can feed the ants and the poison gets all around the colony before they realise it’s too late. Borax can be found in a decent hardware store in the gardening or cleaning section. The commercial honey/borax based products (look in your supermarket) are quite effective, but some ants don’t like honey, strangely enough.

• diatomaceous earth creates a physical barrier (not easy to find in gardening circles but try pool supply shops)

Aphids attack roses, peach trees and hibiscus, among other plants. White oil spray, made from a combination of vegetable oil and dishwashing detergent, can work by suffocating aphids but may cause plant leaves to burn also. For the sake of the plant (and personal safety) it is very important to use the correct quantities and dilutions of emulsions and mixtures. Also follow safe procedure and safety precautions when mixing and using household chemicals.

Vegetable Oil Spray Recipe:

Natural enemies of aphids include:

• ladybirds and ladybird larvae;
• Aphidius colemani a parasitoid wasp of a range of aphids including green peach aphid;
• hoverflies and their larvae;
• lace wings; and
• small birds.

While fish can’t actually catch your aphids, they do like to eat them. Just pull the aphids off the roses and drop them in the water.

More information on organic aphid control: Gardening Australia.

Flying foxes are often considered pests when they attack fruit crops. The use of exclusion products may help to protect fruit from damage:

Examples here

It can mean covering: the entire plant; clusters of fruit; or individual pieces of fruit.

Before using any netting, you should check the National Parks guidelines on netting fruit trees to prevent flying foxes: here

Under NSW legislation, it is an offence to harm a protected or threatened species. You can harm species by netting, trapping, capturing, injuring or killing them. If you put up a netting structure, you must make sure that the structure does not trap or injure protected and threatened animals. You could be prosecuted if you fail to do this.

Feral bees can be a pest if they take up valuable nesting hollows that could otherwise be used by birds. A lack of water can kill off a feral colony so if its possible to remove water from the vicinity the birds may get to reclaim the hollow for nesting.

Try using Shelltox Pest Strip. It works best if placed in a box and the bees have to pass through the box to access the hive. Note that after the hive is killed, bees from other hives clean up any honey in the nest which causes a surplus of bees for a short time. Some suggest that pest strips make bees cranky without eradicating them.

Information on feral bees invading birds’ nesting hollows:

• Catalyst: birds v bees
• Cockatoo care

Birds can be pests in various ways including: eating crops; roosting and causing a mess; noise levels; attacking windows; and eating pet food. Below are some suggested methods of deterring birds.

• hawke kites

• humming tape

• netting

• an electronic device emmitting bird distress calls

• a CD recording of the natural predators of this bird (see bird calls)

• position tight, thin wire or fishing line just above where the birds roost, but too low for them to get under. The birds can’t land on the thin wire or land under it.

• use strings of wine bladders slightly inflated (the silver ones) to deter birds. Don’t over inflate or they burst in the sun.

See also New Inventors

Problems caused by birds - information sheets

Related threads:

• Mudlark malarky

If a brush turkey likes to dig in your pot plants, here’s a solution:

Get a circular, wire plant hanger, the kind that you would usually line with coconut fibre, etc. You’ll need to turn it upside down and cut through one side so you can wrap it around the stem of your plant and provide a cage over the potted earth that the turkey tries to dig up.

Some hairy caterpillars have urticating hairs which they incorporate into their silk cocoon as a defence. A few such caterpillars can cause severe problems but most are just an annoyance. For example, cup moths incorporate those stinging hairs in the eggs, larvae and pupae.

First aid info here:

http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/caterpillars.htm

Moth info here:

http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/cup_moths.htm

• use hair removal wax to remove hairs.

• soap on a bandaid can remove splinters etc from skin and may assist with fine hairs.

Nuisance cats may be feral or may have been let out by irresponsible owners. A vet (or, in some cases, the council) can scan for a microchip to identify owners (who can then be told their responsibilities).

Local councils often loan out or hire cat traps. Traps may also be obtained from Rural Pastures and Protection boards or National Parks and Wildlife Service. Some councils will collect feral cats for destruction but expect you to catch and detain the cat for their collection. The RSPCA is not usually responsible for stray cats (unless appointed by local council).

Possible deterrents for spraying cats include:

• Throwing water (high powered water pistols might help with aim);
• Sprinkling pepper or cayenne pepper on the areas that they spray (after thoroughly washing away the smell;
• There are also products like the Feliway® Pheromone Spray and Diffuser that may assist.

Cleaning up

You need to clean the areas cats spray with a bleach cleaner - not an ammonia type cleaner. Enzyme based cleaners are good too. A product called urine-off (available from vets) will also remove the odour.

But if the problem continues the cat needs to be caught and dealt with.

See also Feline Behaviour Guidelines - a 44 page PDF document dealing with problem behaviours in cats and veterinary approaches to these.

Glue traps are commercially available but not always easy to find. There is a danger of trapped geckos and skinks. The solution:

• Cut around the sticky stuff as close to lizard as you can, then put vegetable oil (peanut, olive etc) on the lizard and it dissolves the sticky stuff.
• Then wipe the lizard as best you can, then wash it in soapy water.
• Finally dry the lizard and put talcum powder on it to remove any residual stickiness.
• Let it go.

• place lemon or other citrus peels into your mulch particularly in the area you want the dog to stay away from. It has something to do with the turpines in the peel.

• plant a succulent called Dog Bane (Plectranthus ornatus). It smells like skunk or fox wee but unfortunately it doesn’t work on all dogs.

• there is a ‘block’ you can buy that you put in a dogs water bowl - it neutralises the wee so that it doesn’t damage the garden.

• spray the border of the garden with chilli, perhaps a few often encountered vertical objects - the letter box, front tree etc.

• Check with your local Council on their bylaws regarding wandering dogs. If dogs are required to be on leashes then report roaming dogs. Call the council; take photographs of the dog and diarise the event. You can even send council an email with the picture attached every time and eventually the troublesome party will be caught up with.

• Authorities (local council) will investigate complaints.

How to Make a Fly Trap

You can buy fly traps, but you can also make one from an old soft drink bottle - and make your own bait too.

Method:

Hang the fly trap HIGH so that the pong goes up and stays up. It will take about four hot days to be really stinky. They are best hung under eaves so they don’t fill with water when it rains, though you can make a roof from another soft drink bottle (cut out the base with four attached long strips, and tape those to the other bottle, leaving a good air gap so the pong can emerge).

The trap should work for a few months; depends on how soon it fills up with flies. You should not be able to smell it at ground level. If you can, move it to a new spot. It may also need emptying if it fills with water, or a little more moisture added in very dry times. But mostly it will be trouble free.

To discourage flies (around a chook pen, for instance) grow tansy.

See also the fox studies page.

There’s probably no time that a fox isn’t a pest. But it may be tricky identifying whether the perpetrator in any scenario is a fox or some other creature. This site may help:

Identifying a fox through: prints; scats; eyeshine; vocalisations; and kills.

Urban foxes are more numerous than rural foxes but harder to eradicate because of the dangers that control/eradication measures pose to non-target species and humans. Meanwhile, foxes will eat almost anything they can catch in the wild (eg mammals, reptiles, turtle eggs, baby and adult turtles, skinks, water rats, purple breasted swamp hens, cygnets and invertebrates like grasshoppers) along with berries. Urban foxes can too readily supplement this with pet food and rubbish found in human environs.

• shooting there are special shooter’s courses so foxes can be shot humanely however shooting typically only results in a very small proportion of the population shot and areas where it can be utilised is restricted because of human proximity;

• poisons include Sodium monofluoroacetate (more commonly referred to as 1080), strychnine, pindone (the latter 2 are fatal for reptiles and birds). Special approval is required before poison can be applied in residential areas. In NSW this is governed by the Pesticide Act 1999 (NSW);

• den fumigation is often not effective due to the fumigant escaping in the terrain foxes favour and dens being difficult to locate;

• electric fencing is very expensive to erect and maintain, can impact negatively on the movements of native animals and impact on the aesthetics of reserves - it does not address the immediate problem of foxes already in the reserves.

Overall “control” methods are too often compromised by budget cuts - “eradication” is preferable.

Trials that have been undertaken include:

• spreading fox urine around the area where traps were set as this serves two purposes, attracting foxes and deterring native species;

• sterilisation trials suggest it is a feasible method of control:
  • for trials aimed at sterilising the alpha females which are the most likely ones for the males to breed with, see this page
  • for trials aimed at making sperm non-viable, see this .pdf (includes Burrendong fox baiting studies and possum behaviour re foxes)

In general, baiting with 1080 should not be used in areas where there is an unacceptably high risk to humans and companion animals, such as urban/residential landscapes.

• there is a great chance that pet dogs may eat the baits.
• 1080 use is restricted in areas where there is a high risk of poisoning domestic stock and wildlife.

There are some precedents for the urban use of 1080: · In Narooma NPWS use 1080 - they bait the bush directly behind a caravan park as Little Terns nest on the beach.

· Warringah fox baiting - interview and webpage

1080 has two major methods of delivery: aerial and burial. Aerial delivery is used in Western Australia where need is widespread and risk to non-target species is considered to be low 2)

The only acceptable method for urban areas is burial. Saftey precautions include the following steps:

• lay un-poisoned baits on a sand pile to see what footprints are left. Only lay baits when you think that there are sufficient numbers of pests and limited non-target species.

• baits, containing 1080, are buried about 25 centimetres under the ground in small white sandpits. Again, monitor the footprints. 3)

• signs are used EVERYWHERE (date of bait laying etc) around where the baits are and widespread media is employed etc. The two Standard Operating Procedures produced by the NSW Department of Primary Industries contain information - appendix 1 - for all relevant commonwealth, state and territory legislation concerning 1080. Appendix 2 contains specific requirements for distance restrictions, neighbour notification and warning signs for each state.

• in various trials non-target species deaths were acceptable given that their numbers quickly returned to better than pre-poisoning figures once foxes were removed.

• Raptors show very high resistance to 1080

• The resistance of eastern species, including raptors is nowhere near as high as WA, but much higher than introduced animals. Bird levels of tolerance seem quite consistently high across the board.

• Reptiles (cold blooded animals) appear to be almost immune to 1080 as there is a temperature factor at work.

• There is evidence to show that pigeons have very high resistance to 1080 even in areas where no poison grows;

• The rabbit is evolving resistance to 1080 (See this ABC story);

• Emus display extreme tolerance over the whole country.

• Cats - While 1080 is the only poison currently used for feral cat control in Australia it is considered reasonable ineffective and is not widely used. Cats are hard to target with baits as they tend not to eat food that is already dead. Cats are very difficult to bait even when prepared to eat dead meat. They nibble the food (dogs/foxes just swallow) so any unfamiliar taste and they will reject it. 1080 is supposedly odourless and tasteless, but cats have dug up the bait along with pieces of untreated meat then eaten all the untreated bits and left the baited piece. See this study.

For further studies into fox eradication see the fox studies page.

See also this CALM webpage about foxes and native animal extinction.

While many are trying to encourage frogs back to their gardens, others find the noise levels a problem. There is not much you can do (as frogs are protected) but the following suggestions might help:

• ensure frog-friendly habitat is located further from your home;
• consider whether you are over-watering your garden and providing habitat in this way;
• you can purchase sound generators that can be used to mask out environmental noise. They are marketed under various names - major department stores or electronic shops should have them.
• white noise genorators are also available that may provide good relief.

A creature we might admire at some times becomes a pest when it devours our treasured garden plants. Some solutions:

• Make your own simple chilli spray: Mix about two cups of water with a teaspoon of chopped chilli, and a good squirt of dishwashing detergent. Put it in a spray bottle and go spray your plants. You can use the minced chilli from a jar, but dont forget to strain it before you put it in the spray bottle.

• Try to get hold of some Neem Oil and give that a go. Otherwise, maybe if you have horehound in your area, gather some of that and make a brew out of it and spray it on the plants..

More on organic control of grasshoppers here

See rodents

Quoted from here:

“Millipedes normally live outdoors but may become nuisance pests indoors by their presence. At certain times of the year (usually late summer and autumn) due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls and drop from the ceilings......Millipedes do not bite humans nor damage structures, household possessions or foods. They can give off a disagreeable odor and if crushed, leave an unsightly mess.”

Prevention

“Millipedes prefer moist, decaying organic matter (similar to forest soil) and shade. Always keep compost piles, grass clippings, rotting wood, leaf piles, plant debris, stones, etc. away from the house foundation as far as practical to reduce moist, damp, dark places where feeding and reproduction can occur.”

“Indoors, many will die of desiccation (drying out) and can be collected by broom and dustpan, vacuum cleaner or other mechanical means and discarded.”

Info to come http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/newposts/344/topic344642.shtm

A possum in (or on) a roof can be a noisy annoyance. The best option is deterrence but in some cases removal and relocation may be required. However, unless preventative steps are taken, another possum could replace the one you’ve removed.

Removal

If the possum needs to be removed from a roof cavity (or elsewhere) you can call the local environment office and have the possum trapped and relocated by trained and licensed operators. In some states, relocation is illegal because moving a possum outside its territory is recognised as a death sentence for the creature.

This site explains that “possums are nocturnal animals. Trapped possums must be released at sunset on the day of capture, on the same property, within 50 metres of the capture site and on the same property. Possums must be released within 24 hours of capture.”

State laws about relocation

New South Wales - Possums are protected in NSW and catching possums without a licence is illegal in NSW.

South Australia - In South Australia, all possums are protected (ie safeguarded against collecting, hunting or other activities).

Victoria - Relocation of possums is prohibited. Common Ringtail Possums remain fully protected and may not be trapped.

~more to come~

Prevention

A simple way to keep possums out of roof space or space between floors is to fit a movement sensor light. Possums don’t like light. You could also instal a nesting box as an alternative home for it to live in, in a nearby high tree.

You need to remove its entry points to the building. Repair any holes that enable it to enter the building then look at how the possum is gaining access.

Anything that over hangs the roof will need to be cut back. Possums will drop a couple of meters from a vantage point if they need to. You may need to collar the trees. This is done with flat tin sheeting (about 20”s wide) placed around the trunk of a tree to cover from the 1 meter mark up to the width of the tin. This is futile if the possum can crawl along a fence and get into that tree or leap frog from another tree. Possums can also use power lines so you may have to do something there as well.

A possum can escape over a tree collar and get down to the ground by jumping over your barriers but the barriers, if done right, will prevent it getting back in.

Various products have been tested as repellents and the results listed in this study.

RSPCA infosheet - Humane control of rats and mice

Humane mouse trap

Removal

Snails and slugs can be hand picked from the garden. During the day, lift rocks, bricks and logs to find their moist, dark hiding places. Or, at night time, tempt them with:

• halved-orange peels (or grapefruit) placed colour-side up in the garden;
• overturned pots, propped a little at one side;
• a little beer in a saucer in the garden.

Collect by day and destroy.

Ducks, chooks and lizards will consume large quantities of snails and slugs.

Deterrents

Crushed egg shells around the base of plants will deter snails and slugs. Also try fresh sawdust or hay mulch.

Seedlings can be protected by cutting a soft drink bottle in half and placing the top over the seedling till they harden off.

Very large spotted slugs are Leopard slugs. These will eat mulch and dead materials but will not harm your plants.

Snakes hang around peoples’ homes for fairly simple reasons:

• food
• water
• shelter
• sunning opportunities

You can do a number of things to reduce the availability of these factors:

• keep the grass cut short - snakes don’t like being exposed to birds
• if you have thick bushes - excellent for small birds - be aware they also can provide snake habitat
• keep the rubbish down to keep down the number of rats (prey)
• don’t have a frog pond next to your house (frogs are good food for a number of snakes)
• if you have chooks, make sure the shed is away from the house and is kept clean. Rats (seeking eggs) will bring snakes
• make sure the branches are cut at least a metre away from your house (this will help with the possums too)
• put water at the end of your property and keep it full
• don’t have a rockery
• teach your children to walk away when they see a snake. Most snakes will move on within an hour.
• keep your cats inside (snakes are often bought into the house by cats who have preyed upon them)
• don’t try and kill any snakes you see - this is how people get bitten
• if you leave in a metro or regional area find out where your nearest snake handler is in the event you do have one in the house.
• if you live in a remote area consider doing a snake handling course so that you can safely move any snake without danger to yourself or others.

Snakes live everywhere in Australia. We are much more dangerous to them that they are to us. They have an important role in the ecosystem. Be snake smart and you and your family can live safely with snakes.

First Aid for snake bite

Snake Bite - How to use a pressure bandage after snake bite - external site.

Ticks are parasites that feed on the blood of humans and other animals. There are many species of tick. The most common tick in New South Wales is the paralysis tick Ixodes Holocyclus, which is found along the State’s eastern coastal strip and inland for about 30 kilometres. As the majority of the population also lives along the coast, encounters with this tick can be frequent.

Remove a tick as soon as possible after locating it. Use fine pointed tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Gently pull the tick straight out with steady pressure. If you have difficulty seek medical attention. Do not try to kill the tick with methylated spirits or any other chemicals.This will cause the tick to inject more toxins. If you have a severe infestation by larval stage ticks (often referred to as grass ticks) take a bath for 30 minutes with 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda.

More information on ticks can be found here

This website contains a simple method for tick removal and a video demonstrating the technique. The suggested method is to rub the click in a circular motion. After about a minute the tick will fall out!

If you want to remove them cleanly from your skin, get them as soon as possible so they don’t get in too deeply. Place the tweezers as close to the head as possibly (next to your skin). Bend the tick backwards and maintain a constant pulling tension. In most cases it will come out cleanly, jaws and all.

Be careful not too stir them up or fiddle around pulling them out so as they don’t dump a heap of venom into you. The really minute ones tend to attach themselves without being felt but come out with a good, quick flick of a fingernail.

In case of bad reactions, doctors may prescribe Phenergan tablets.

See also: ticks and Tick paralysis in domestic animals in Australia

You have to be careful of using insecticides on wasps, it makes them very angry and takes a few seconds to kill them, which gives them plenty of time to get to you.

If their nest is not in an area where it is likely to be disturbed, and they don’t act agressively when you approach, consider leaving them be. They have their benefits.

If you still want to get rid of them, other sprays such as foaming carpet cleaner and WD-40 can be effective at getting them on the ground and making sure they stay there.