Pest control in Melbourne, season by season
The pests a Melbourne household meets change with the seasons. This is a guide to them, and to Victoria’s rules around them, in plain words, published by Dotto from the official Victorian sources listed at the foot of each page.
The four seasons
What the official Victorian pages say each season brings, read off like a weather board. Each of the five reports below opens with its own strip of four readings, in the same spirit: when, where, how, and which office keeps the rule.
- Spring
Swooping birds
A few magpies and plovers swoop in the spring breeding season to guard their eggs, nests and young. Cover your head, walk on quickly without running, and leave bird and nest alone: they are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975.
City of Casey
- Summer
Mosquito season
Inland, Victoria’s mosquito breeding season usually runs from early November to late April; on the coast it tends to start earlier and end later. Mosquitoes and Murray Valley encephalitis
Department of Health
- Autumn
Wasp nests at their peak
A European wasp nest grows in size and numbers over summer and peaks in early autumn.
Agriculture Victoria
- Winter
Nests that do not die off
Nests usually decline and die out over winter, but southern Australia’s mild winters mean some survive, and an overwintering nest can grow huge, with tens of thousands of wasps.
Agriculture Victoria
- Any night
Thumping in the roof
Brushtail possums are active at night and rest by day, often in the space between ceiling and roof. Possums in the roof
Victorian Government
Who keeps the rules
Several Victorian offices share the ground. Their pages are the sources behind every report here.
- Department of Health. Licenses pest control operators and runs the state’s mosquito surveillance.
- Better Health Channel. The department’s public health pages, including what to do before and after a treatment.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria. Renting rules on pests, and what an owners corporation is.
- Victoria’s environment department. Wildlife legislation, including the Wildlife Controller licences that let pest control operators remove native animals.
- Agriculture Victoria. European wasps and other priority pest insects.
- Victorian Building Authority. Termites and building work.
Five reports
- Possums in the roof
What Victoria allows when a brushtail moves in, where it must be released, and how to close the roof behind it.
- Mosquitoes and Murray Valley encephalitis
A rare, serious virus, the months and places of highest risk, and keeping bites off.
- Getting ready for a treatment
The health department’s advice for the day a licensed operator treats your home, in order.
- Fleas in the house
Bites, pets, the empty-house surprise, and who fixes it in a rental.
- Owners corporations and pests
Common property, the plan of subdivision, and the pests that cross lot lines.