- Risk level
- High
- Peak season
- All year · peaks late autumn & winter
- Where you’ll find them
- Roof voids, wall cavities, sub-floors, sheds
- DIY?
- Partial — proofing is the key
Overview
As Melbourne’s nights cool down, rats and mice move indoors looking for warmth and food. They breed fast, chew through cables and carry diseases. Effective rodent control combines baiting or trapping with finding and sealing how they get in.
How to identify rats & mice
Roof rat / black rat (Rattus rattus)
Agile climber with a tail longer than its body. Lives in roof voids, trees and creepers, and runs along fences and power lines.
Norway rat / brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Heavier, burrowing rat with a shorter tail. Lives in sub-floors, under sheds, along creeks and in drains.
House mouse (Mus musculus)
Small, grey-brown, and fits through a gap the width of a pencil. Breeds rapidly inside wall cavities and kitchens.
Signs you have a problem
- Scratching, scurrying or gnawing noises in the ceiling or walls at night
- Dark, rice- to bean-sized droppings in cupboards, roof voids or along walls
- Gnaw marks on food packaging, timber, plastic pipes and cables
- Greasy rub marks along walls and beams
- Nests of shredded paper, insulation or fabric
Why it matters
- Can spread diseases including leptospirosis and salmonellosis
- Chewed electrical wiring is a known cause of house fires
- Contaminate food, insulation and stored belongings
How we treat rats & mice
- 1
Inspection & entry points
We trace activity back to entry points — roof lines, weep holes, gaps under doors, pipe penetrations and vents.
- 2
Lockable bait stations
Tamper-resistant, lockable bait stations are placed where rodents travel, keeping the bait away from children and pets.
- 3
Trapping
Where baiting isn’t suitable — food areas, homes with pets — we use professional traps and monitor them.
- 4
Proofing advice
We show you exactly what to seal so the problem doesn’t come back next winter.
Prevention tips you can do today
- Seal gaps larger than 6 mm around pipes, cables, roofs and doors
- Cut back trees and creepers touching the roof
- Store pet food and bird seed in sealed metal or hard plastic containers
- Keep compost bins enclosed and wood piles off the ground and away from the house