An  environmental  project  inspired  by the  children of Baldivis  Primary School
 

Baldivis Children's Forest

Baldivis Children's Forest provides food and shelter to many different animals (fauna). Western grey kangaroos can be easily startled and it is not unusual to see kangaroos bounding away during a walk. Sandy areas amongst the grass and lots of scats show you where they lie to rest during the day. Southern brown bandicoots and bush rats are also numerous, but as they are nocturnal they are seldom seen during a visit. Twenty-five different species of reptiles live at Baldivis Children's Forest and include skinks, snakes, geckoes, and monitor lizards. Five species of frogs also live buried in the sand or in the wetter area of Outridge Swamp.

The best ways to see animals when you visit is to look for clues e.g. scats (poo), burrows, diggings (bandicoots dig for roots), chewed plants, tracks in the sand, fur on twigs, snake-skins, insect exoskeletons or listen out for their calls.

Remember if you turn over a log or rock to look underneath, make sure you roll it back in place as it is probably a home to someone.

Photo: Nicholas teaches students fauna trapping techniques during 2006.

  Link to BCF Fauna Survey 2004-2008

Gould's monitor (varanus gouldii)	Western bearded dragon (Pogona minor)	Western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus)
Nicholas holding a bobtail (Tiliqua rugosa)	Two toed earless skink (Hemiergis quadrilineata)	Woolley bear caterpillars are abundant on lupins in spring at the forest.

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Feral Bee Control

Feral honey bees (Apis melifera) kill baby birds, bats and possums and compete with native animals for tree hollow homes.

A feral honey bee control program sponsored by Synergy commenced in September 2007. Hives in tree hollows are treated with a pyrethrum chemical to kill the bees and then the honey comb is removed. Approximately 12 hives in 6–8 trees were treated in 2007. In 2008, three hives in trees at 14–20 meters high were treated to eradicate an estimated 145,000 feral bees.

A 2009 Swan Alcoa Landcare Program grant has enabled feral bee control to continue at the Forest. In September, 3 bee hives in tuart tree hollows were treated. The number of feral bees in the Forest appears to be declining and the success of the eradication program was demonstrated in spring 2009 when two black-tailed monitors (Varanus tristis) and a ring tail possum were sighted popping their heads out of hollows in treated trees.

Feral bee monitoring, treatment and control will be an important ongoing task for volunteers, school children and funding partners.

Climbing high into a tuart tree with a long extension ladder.	Pyrethrum powder used to treat feral bee hives.	Joe Tonga (Natsync Environmental) fills a tiny entry hole with expanding foam filler.

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