Spiders
Wear gloves when gardening or handling soil or rubbish, and use garden tools.

Wear sensible footwear when walking outside, especially during the night.

Watch for moving ground-dwelling spiders after heavy rain or where soil has been recently excavated.

Avoid leaving household items on the ground outside overnight.

Shake clothing and bedding that has been on the floor before it is used again.

Don’t disturb spider webs with any part of your body.

Be aware of spiders outside on fence capping, building eaves and walls and under outside structures especially in the spring-time.

Use a draft-excluder or “snake” along the bottom of external doors to control spiders entering the house at night.

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Displaying Frequently Asked Questions
My next door neighbour has a severe rodent problem and my dog is frequently catching large brown rats in the back and side-yards. If my neighbour does not have a rodent treatment will it be likely that my house will become rodent infested?
Yes, your house can become rodent infested but the species of rat you described being caught by next door’s dog seems to be Rattus norvegicus the brown river rat. These are larger than the roof rat Rattus rattus which are smaller and grey.



So how can rats be attracted to your property? By a place to nest and a food source. For the roof rat your roof and wall cavities is the perfect place for its nest. Any fruit or nut bushes or trees (e.g. Cape Lilac tree or grape vine) can provide a food source.



The brown rat usually lives under buildings so if you are near the river or sea and have a house on wooden suspended floor boards (with a sub-floor area) or stilts this species of rat can build nests under your house. They have plenty of water nearby so all they need is food, which they can find in the surrounding bushes and trees.



Most rats can swim and run great distances if necessary to find food and water and are great opportunists – if it is there they will drink it, live in it or eat it!



Therefore, it is worthwhile to have your roof and (if there are brown rats present) your house sub-floor areas baited to kill the pests. The bait should preferably be one like Racumin that has a clear safety record for secondary poisoning effects to non-target animals and can be used long term to gain control of a rodent nest.
Date Listed: 2008-01-10

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