Pest Control in the Dandenong Ranges
Looking up the trunks of mountain ash in Sherbrooke Forest against a blue sky

Rats and mice in the Dandenong Ranges and foothills

Since 24 March 2026 the strongest rat baits have been suspended, and can only be supplied and used under the regulator's instructions. BirdLife Australia has found them in dead owls.

We connect you with a local pest controller who works in the hills.

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Sherbrooke Forest. Photo: Haworthia Ihlathi, CC BY-SA 4.0

The strongest baits are suspended

The national regulator, the APVMA, suspended every product containing a second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide for a year from 24 March 2026: brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, difethialone and flocoumafen. While suspended they may only be supplied and used under the regulator's published instructions, and throw packs only inside tamper-resistant bait stations. Its final decision on all rat and mouse anticoagulants was still to come when we checked.

Checked 25 October 2026 against APVMA: second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to be restricted (March 2026) and APVMA: anticoagulant rodenticides FAQs (19 March 2026).

Why the owls matter

BirdLife Australia names Powerful Owls and Southern Boobooks among dead Australian birds found with dangerous levels of these poisons, and the Powerful Owl is listed as vulnerable in Victoria.

Checked 25 October 2026 against BirdLife Australia: protect Aussie birds from SGAR rat poisons and BirdLife Australia: Powerful Owl.

Before bait

Rats and mice come for food and shelter: pet food and bird seed left out, compost, chook feed, a woodpile against the house. Taking those away and sealing gaps into the roof and walls is worth doing before any bait goes down, and a trap leaves no poison in the rat. Ask a pest controller what they use and where, and whether it goes in a locked station.

Asking for a quote

Say where you've seen droppings or heard scratching, and whether there are children, pets or chooks on the property. A photo of the droppings helps tell rats from mice.

Ask for a quote

Tell us where you are and what needs doing, and we'll contact you as soon as possible.

What's the job?

What you've seen and where: the roof, the walls, the kitchen or the garden, and for how long.

A photo of the pest, the droppings or the damage helps with the quote.

Your name, number, what you write and your photos reach us by email, and go to no one else. We keep the email for record keeping purposes, and a note of the time, the page, the suburb and the job, so we can count requests. Privacy.

Ask for a quote