Snakes
Snakes at your home
Follow these steps if you see a snake on your property, to ensure your family and pets are kept safe:
- Remove all family members and pets from the area immediately.
- Do not approach or attempt to move or kill the snake. This is when you are most likely to be bitten.
- Keep watch from a safe distance to see if the snake moves on from your property.
- If the snake is aggressive or poses a risk to your family’s safety, contact an authorised snake handler to move the snake.
Remember it is an offence to harm snakes under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
To limit the chance of snakes on your property, keep it well maintained and free of rubbish or piles of vegetation.
To learn more about the snakes we share our environment with, visit the Australian Museum’s Fact Sheets.
Snakes on public land or Council facility
If you find a snake within a Council operated community building or public playground, please contact us immediately.
Council cannot respond to requests to remove snakes from private land or areas of natural habitat on public land such as areas of bushland, wetlands and waterways.
Flying foxes
Flying foxes near your home
Flying foxes play an important role in the Australian environment because they are natural plant pollinators and seed dispersers. As a protected species, it is important that the animals are left alone. They are quietest when left undisturbed.
If you come across a flying fox, do not handle it. The greatest risk of disease is if you are scratched or bitten. If it is wounded, call a wildlife rescue service.
Flying foxes in the community
Flying Foxes are increasingly moving closer to towns and people in search of food and shelter because of the loss of their natural habitat and in response to local food availability through changed weather patterns.
Co-existing with flying foxes in an urban environment can be challenging for communities. There are concerns about noise, mess, smell and disease risk.
Government regulation
State and Federal government agencies are empowered and responsible for regulating and protecting wildlife and are best equipped to offer advice on public health aspects of co-existence in an urban community.
Find more information on how to manage flying foxes via the NSW Government’s Fact Sheet.
If you have further questions or concerns about flying foxes in your area, call the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment on 131 555.
Mosquitoes
To manage mosquito risks we recommend you:
- Wear loose, light coloured long pants and long sleeved clothing. Also, wear enclosed footwear
- Apply mosquito repellent to exposed skin areas, and re-apply when you feel mosquitoes biting
- Use aerosol insecticide sprays and mosquito coils to clear areas of mosquitoes
- Ensure barriers are in place, such as fly screens on doors and windows.
- Prevent mosquitoes from breeding around your home by removing all water holding items such as tyres and plastic containers.
Mosquitoes can potentially transmit serious diseases that impact our health if we do not manage their bite.
It is extremely important to take appropriate precautions to protect you and your family, especially at night when mosquitoes are at their most active, particularly over the warmer months.
Find more information about mosquito risks via the NSW Health Hazard Fact Sheet.