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Pest control Sutherland ShireSutherland Shire, NSW

Which side of the Shire's fence is it on?

A Shire yard is pressed against park, reserve and river. Some of what crosses it is a licensed job; some is a report to council; some is only a notice.

A Sutherland Shire yard meeting the bush, drawn side on: the house with its roof cavity, the garden, the timber boundary fence, the national park across it and the river at the far edge, with what lives at each place. Your side The bush side Possum in the roof cavity Termites at the wall and floor line Snake in the garden Cane toads of Taren Point a breeding population found in 2010 eradicated after several years Foxes and deer in the bush Towra Point: a 1080 fox baiting program 1080 is lethal to cats and dogs Royal National Park: deer control closes some areas sunset to sunrise, Monday to Thursday Funnel-webs males wander into backyards and pools the Georges River ends the main range of the Sydney funnel-web The same yard standing up: the house at the top, then the garden, the boundary fence across the page, the bush, and the river at the foot, with what lives at each place beside it. Your side The bush side Possum in the roof cavity Termites at the wall and floor line Snake in the garden Cane toads of Taren Point a breeding population found in 2010, eradicated after several years Foxes and deer in the bush Towra Point's 1080 fox program Royal National Park: deer control closes some areas, sunset to sunrise, Monday to Thursday Funnel-webs and the Georges River the Georges River ends the main range of the Sydney funnel-web
On the house side of the fence, the help to hire is licensed. Pesticide work on the wall and the floor line needs a licence, and pest management technician licences come from the NSW EPA; a possum in the roof cavity can go to a licensed catch and release possum operator, and the possum must be released at dusk no more than 150 metres from where it was caught; and a snake in the garden you want removed goes to the nearest catcher on the reptile handler list.

The one rule to know before anyone treats the house

In NSW, work the regulations prescribe may only be done under a licence, and the licences pest management technicians hold come from the state's Environment Protection Authority. The EPA asks a householder to check a pest controller's licence, and to ask to see it before agreeing to any work. The EPA places every pesticide licence it issues on a public register, so a licence can be checked without asking. That register can be searched with a licence holder's name, a licence number, or any combination of terms, to confirm a controller is licensed. The EPA's own page sets the whole check out: engaging a pest management technician.

If a person or a licence cannot be found, or a pest controller cannot show their licence, the EPA's Environment Line is the place to say so: it answers at any hour, on 131 555. Unlicensed pest controllers can face regulatory action from the EPA, and a serious case can be prosecuted, with a maximum penalty of $60,000.

Who to call, in one table

Each row comes from a NSW agency, a NSW council or the Australian Museum, and the third column opens the page it comes from.

What you have foundWho deals with itThe page it comes from
A possum in the roof cavity A licensed catch and release operator. The possum is released at dusk, no more than 150 metres from where it was caught, and it goes back onto the property it was caught on Removing a possum from your roof (NSW)
Termites in the walls or the floor A licensed timber pest management technician: from the dates the EPA sets, using pesticides against termites and other timber pests needs a timber pest management licence Pest management technicians (NSW EPA)
A snake in the garden A catcher on the state's reptile handler list, a list that exists because the environment department issues licences to catch and release reptiles Living with snakes (NSW)
A suspected cane toad Sutherland Shire Council asks that it not be killed. If catching it is uncomfortable, the council asks for a photograph and a call instead, and for protective gloves and eyewear if it is caught Cane toads (Sutherland Shire Council)
Foxes or feral deer on your land Your own General Biosecurity Duty, run as a coordinated program with your neighbours, with advice from Local Land Services Controlling vertebrate pest animals (NSW)
Funnel-webs in the pool or the house The males wander into backyards and can survive hours in a pool, the Australian Museum records. The Georges River ends the main range of the Sydney species, and a second species is recorded mainly south and west of Sydney Sydney funnel-web spider (Australian Museum)

General information from NSW agencies, Sutherland Shire Council and the Australian Museum, checked on the date at the foot of this page. It is not advice for your property, and a page like this one cannot replace the licence, the notice or the record the law puts on the person doing the work.

Five questions from Shire yards

  • A possum in the roof: why catching and releasing one is illegal without a licence, and what a licensed operator must do.
  • Who may treat your house in NSW: the licence, the notice and the record, walked through as one job.
  • A snake or a funnel-web in the garden: the handler list, the two funnel-web species and where the Georges River sits in their ranges, and the one page to follow if someone is bitten.
  • The cane toads of Taren Point: the breeding population the Greater Sydney pest animal plan records at Taren Point in 2010, the council's record of finds since, and why a native frog means the answer is never a shovel.
  • 1080 across the fence: the notice a baiting program owes its neighbours, and what the park alerts mean for dogs and cats.