Can I use a leg-hold trap for a possum in Napier?

No. Napier's Animal Control Bylaw 2021 bans leg-hold traps on any public or private premises in the city. Leave possums to a pest business.

Do I need a permit to keep bees in Napier?

In non-rural areas, yes. The city council issues permits and can cancel one if the bees become a nuisance or health hazard.

Does Napier City Council deal with wasps?

On its reserves and open spaces it manages pests under the regional pest plan. We didn't find a Napier council page on nests at private homes. Elsewhere in New Zealand that's the owner's job, usually through a pest business.

Pest control Napier: trap rules, rats, ants and bees

What's different in Napier

Leg-hold traps are banned

Napier's Animal Control Bylaw 2021 says nobody may set a leg-hold trap on any premises, public or private, anywhere in the city. Traps made only for mice or rats sit outside that definition. A possum in the roof is a job for a pest business.

Hives need a permit

Bees can be kept in non-rural parts of Napier only with a council permit, which the council can cancel if they become a nuisance or a health hazard.

Two ants in town gardens

DOC lists Hawke's Bay among the places Argentine ants are known. Hawke's Bay Regional Council says Darwin's ants can build up large numbers, often in urban gardens.

The estuary and Westshore

The city council keeps Westshore Wildlife Reserve for wildlife and coastal lagoon habitat, and the regional council wants predator animals and invasive weeds cleared from the Ahuriri Estuary.

Sun and frost

NIWA says most of Hawke's Bay gets over 2000 hours of sunshine a year, with plenty of frosts in the cooler months.

Rats: whose job is it in Napier?

At your house, yours. Hawke's Bay Regional Council says it doesn't do rat control outside its Priority Ecosystem sites, and tells people who need it to contact a local pest controller. On council reserves and open spaces, the city council manages pests under the regional pest plan.

If you put bait out yourself, the regional council says to keep it somewhere secure, away from children, pets and stock. If anyone swallows some, the National Poisons Centre is on 0800 764 766. For a pet, go straight to the vet.

Running a café or takeaway?

The city council's pest control advice is written for food businesses. It says to deny pests access, watch for signs, give them no food or shelter, and arrange prompt treatment by a trained person as soon as pests are noticed. It also points out that small pests such as wasps can be as much trouble as possums.

Mud in timber is a report, not a job

Hawke's Bay Regional Council lists the Australian subterranean termite as a Notifiable Organism. If you see mud packed into timber or mud tunnels, leave them alone and ring MPI.

What to have ready

Where you've seen droppings, chewing or trails, and when.
Whether you keep bees, chickens or pets on the property.
A photo of any nest, taken from a distance.
Easy access to the ceiling space and under the house.

If it were our place in Napier

We'd leave the hardware store trap aisle alone for anything bigger than a mouse. Napier's rules make some traps illegal, and a pest business will know what's allowed. For ants, check the neighbours first, since Argentine ant colonies run across section boundaries. Then tap what you've found.

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.

What have you seen?

Pest control in Napier

Pest control in Napier: what to know before anyone calls