At RPS, we know that pest management services can raise some questions, both for land mangers/property owners and neighbouring properties. As a result, we've assembled some of the Frequentl Asked Questions (FAQs) below:
The monitoring activity is an important part of the pest management strategy, as it allows land managers/property owners, RPS and other parties (E.g. neighbours, local council, etc.) to understand the extent of the pest problem before control activities are carried out. This provides what we refer to as a 'baseline' and allows future pest control activities to be measured against.
After control activities are performed, RPS will use the baseline to determine how effective the pest strategy has been. RPS also supplies land managers/property owners with a toolkit to continue the monitoring effort into the future. This helps you keep a track of the pest numbers and provides early indication of a increase or recurrence.
There are many different types of pest control (E.g. shooting, pesticides, habitat destruction, etc.) and the chosen strategy relates to a number of factors, such as:
Target species,
Volume of pests,
Proximity to structures & urban resources,
Environmental considerations.
To address the pest problem, RPS will explore these factors and devise a pest management strategy with you. The key outcome will be to ensure successful reduction or elimination of the target species; with minimal/no impact to non-target species or the surrounding environment.
For further information, we recommend reviewing the Humanenesss matricies on the PestSmart website.
Due to the biodiversity reasons, it's legislated that waste from pest control (be that unusable carcasses or surplus pesticides) need to be disposed of on-site.
The approved disposal methods include:
Disposal pit (of a depth no less than 50cm), or
Incineration.
To limit environmental impacts and potential contamination, RPS recommends the disposal pit method and can discuss the location of this with land managers/property owners (as this needs to be away from living structures and water sources).
RPS can construct this pit on-site, however request that this be made available ahead of pest control activities. For the disposal of carcasses, where pest numbers are high, multiple pits may be required.
Free-feeding is a method of bait training, where pest animals are encouraged to feed on supplied material (E.g. carrots, oats, etc.).
This material is not laced with pesticide and is typically provided to the pest animals each day, up to a week before pesticide is introduced to the mixture.
Once animals are sufficiently encouraged and taking the supplied material; pesticide will be mixed into the supply.
Free-feeding is an important part of the process and is crucial to the success of the pesticide program.
NOTE: Free-feeding is a mandatory & legislated step in the application of pesticides - it cannot be skipped.
As with most chemical products, pesticides can only be used in certain areas.
The application of pesticides (as noted here) must observe the following mandatory distances:
Not within 5m of the property boundary,
Not within 150m of a living structure.
If there are pests found within areas where pesticides cannot be used (E.g. rabbits burrowing under living structures), we will recommend the use of other control measures (such as shooting or fumigation).
For notification of pesticide use, the following mandatory distances must be observed:
All properties within 1Km radius need to be notified of pesticide use (including type, target-species and duration of pesticide use),
Banners at the property boundary (where pesticides are applied) at an interval of 150m apart.