Foreshore Cricket Control

The Foreshore is office towers, hotels, the convention centre and the freeways, all built on land reclaimed from Table Bay. It is almost all commercial work here: food courts, hotel kitchens, parking garages and building basements.

Crawling insects in Foreshore: what we see

German cockroaches are the big problem in commercial kitchens, food courts and staff canteens, and American cockroaches come up from drains and basements.

Big office blocks, hotels, apartment towers and the CTICC dominate, along with the station precinct, parking garages and service lanes. Basements, service ducts and refuse rooms link entire buildings, so rodents and cockroaches can travel floor to floor without being seen. Food courts and hotel kitchens need constant attention. Residential conversions add flats to the mix.

The whole area sits on flat reclaimed land between the city centre and the harbour, with the sea and the docks right next door. The South-Easter rips through the streets between the towers in summer. Old stormwater and sewer lines run underneath, and that is where most of the rodent pressure comes from.

Rats from the harbour and sewers, German cockroaches in commercial kitchens, and pigeons on building ledges are the main issues. Bed bugs are a hotel and residential concern.

From the technician

A common myth is that crickets are a sign of a dirty home. They are mostly drawn in by light, warmth and damp, and a spotless house with a gap under the patio door can have just as many.

Reducing crickets on a property can also reduce spiders and scorpions, which come in to hunt them. It is one of those cases where solving one small problem helps with another.

Tell-tale signs

1. Loud chirping at night that stops as soon as you walk towards it.
2. Large numbers of crickets attracted to outside lights on warm nights.
3. Birds and hadedas probing the lawn intensively, which is often a sign of mole crickets or other insects underneath.
4. Patches of grass that brown and die, and lift easily because the roots have been cut.
5. Raised, soft ridges and tunnels in the lawn, especially after watering.

What happens when we come out

Indoors, we focus on finding where the crickets are coming in and hiding, then apply a residual treatment to entry points, door thresholds, garage edges and other hiding spots. Granular baits can be used around the perimeter of the house to reduce numbers before they reach the walls. For mole crickets, the lawn is treated with a targeted product and watered in so it reaches the tunnels, and timing matters because young mole crickets near the surface are easier to control. We use the least-toxic effective option and avoid spraying open living areas.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our cricket control service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Fit brush strips under exterior doors and garage doors so crickets cannot walk straight in.
• Swap bright white outside lights for yellow or warm-coloured bulbs, which attract fewer insects.
• Keep the garage and storeroom tidy and dry, since crickets love damp cardboard and clutter.
• Water the lawn deeply but less often, as constantly damp soil suits mole crickets.
• Clear leaf litter, mulch, firewood and garden rubbish away from the walls of the house.

How much will it cost?

The cost depends on whether it is an indoor nuisance, a lawn problem or both, and on the size of the property and garden. A large lawn with widespread mole cricket damage takes more product and time than a perimeter treatment for a house. Follow-up treatments, if needed to catch a second generation, are included in a free quote upfront.

One cricket behind the fridge is a job for a torch and a glass, not a pest control company. If crickets keep coming in night after night, or your lawn is lifting with tunnels, a professional perimeter or lawn treatment will save you a lot of frustration. Buying lawn insecticide and guessing the timing often wastes money.

Questions we get asked in Foreshore

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