The autumn rodent surge: why your Melbourne roof gets noisy in May

Every year in late April and May our phones ring with the same call: "there's something in the roof." The pattern is identical year-on-year. Outer-suburb paddocks dry off through summer; the country mouse population looks for a new food source; suburban edges fill up first; then the inner-east tree-canopy roof rats notice the weather turn and audit the local roof stock. May is the peak month for first-time rodent reports in Melbourne - bigger than winter or spring.

What actually works in autumn: a multi-station bait approach in the roof void plus snap traps inside the cavity, paired with entry-point sealing. We've covered the full process on the rodent control page. The bit most owners miss is sealing - bait alone doesn't stop the next family moving in.

If you're hearing scratching now and you live anywhere in the inner east, north or bayside, the smart move is to deal with it inside two weeks. Ten weeks later you've got a population, not an individual.