Article & photos by Kaye Rodden

Photo above: Tim Bloomfield from the Victorian Rabbit Action Network at the Field Day.

The weather forecast was dire and we planned for blizzard conditions! We had gallons of hot soup, open fires, a comfortable undercover meeting space and of course stimulating presentations and demonstrations….. and remarkably the weather was reasonably kind, with the blizzards arriving a day later!

And our community turned up! Over 40 came to hear from Tim Bloomfield about what makes the rabbit tick and how to control it and from Leanne Rolfe how to monitor rabbit warrens using RabbitScan. We also had an opportunity to listen to experts from the Gorse Task Force and the Serrated Tussock Working Party talk about gorse and serrated tussock identification and management.

The highlight of the day would have to have been the afternoon demonstrations in a convenient paddock adjacent to the fire and soup….

Bob Beveridge and Dick Simonson from the Bellarine Landcare Group had us in stitches as they showed off their ingenious smoking contraption to identify warren entrances. Brad Spear on the other hand had us oohing and aahing from afar as he blew up a major warren under some pine trees and Kent Worland from Winchelsea provided an expert demonstration of how to efficiently rip warrens.

Thanks to the organising committee of Christa and Trevor Jones, Judy Cohn and Jim Seager for the great organisation and to the landholder, Julie Oataway who kindly offered her property for our event.

A big thank you also to Surf Coast Shire who sponsored the event.