What's different in Rangiora
Rats and mice
Waimakariri District Council says it can give advice on controlling them, but getting rid of them is the property owner's job, or a pest control company's.
Wasps and bees
The council doesn't deal with bees or wasps on private land. On public property it removes nests only once a nest has formed, and not while bees are still swarming.
Swarms
For a bee swarm, the council points people to the North Canterbury Bee Club.
Near the Ashley-Rakahuri
DOC wrote in 2014 that a nesting stretch of the Ashley-Rakahuri River is quite close to Rangiora, and that trapping introduced mammalian predators there helps protect the chicks.
Possums and rabbits
Waimakariri's 2024 Natural Environment Strategy lists both as district-wide, so a section on the edge of town can see either.
Whose job is it in Rangiora?
| On your own land | On public land | |
|---|---|---|
| A wasp nest | Yours to arrange, usually through a pest business | The council, once the nest has formed |
| A bee swarm | A beekeeper, such as the North Canterbury Bee Club | Not the council while bees are swarming |
| Rats or mice | Yours, with council advice if you want it | Ring the council |
The pests most likely here
Rats and mice are the winter job, the same as most of Canterbury. Ship rats climb into ceilings, and Norway rats stay low around sheds, drains and the river side of town. Wasps build up through summer, with nests in banks, hedges and the base of flax.
Fleas and bed bugs turn up anywhere people and pets live, and older timber homes are worth a look for borer.
If you live on the river side of town
Trap lines along the river are there for birds, not for houses. If rats keep coming back after a treatment, ask the pest business to look for entry points, because sealing the way in is what stops the next lot.
What you can do, and what to hand over
You can
- Clear firewood and timber stacks away from the house walls.
- Put pet food and chook feed away at night.
- Watch a wasp nest's flight line from a distance and note where it is.
- Call the bee club for a swarm.
Leave to a pest business
- Any wasp nest on your section.
- Baiting for rats inside the house.
- Bees that have moved into a wall or roof.
If we lived in Rangiora
We wouldn't spend time waiting on the council for anything on our own section, because it's been clear about that. For a swarm, we'd ring the bee club. For anything else, we'd tap what we've seen and let a pest business take it from there.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
