Through their digging, Rabbits disturb the soil and promote weed growth. Their grazing devastates native vegetation, preventing regeneration or wiping out vulnerable species like orchids. The Friends group has almost eliminated rabbits from the public land, but they still invade from adjacent areas. Please tell us about any active rabbit burrows you have noticed.

Foxes have contributed to the extinction of many Australian mammals and keep many other animals at very low numbers. They also spread seeds of weeds such as Boxthorn and feral Cherry Plums. Foxes are occasionally seen or heard along the creek but are probably more common than this suggests. Please tell us about any dens (burrows) you have found.

Like foxes, cats are implicated in the extinction of Australian mammals. Cats (feral and domestic) are estimated to kill over a billion native animals every year in Australia. Feral cats are sometimes present along the creek. You can borrow non-lethal cat traps from the Shire Council if you’d like to help reduce their impact. The Council Ranger will pick up the trap and take the cat to the RSPCA.

Indian Mynas and European Blackbirds are the introduced birds most likely to invade bushland and compete with native species. They also spread weed seeds. The Friends group has Blackbird and Indian Myna traps for loan if you’d like to help reduce these pests.

The introduced invasive fish species present in the creek compete with and eat native fish that might otherwise recolonise Campbells Creek. We know that European Carp, Redfin, Goldfish, Brown Trout and Eastern Gambusia are all present. Tench and Rainbow Trout may also be here. 

These wasps with painful stings are often prolific in autumn. Like feral honeybees, they compete with native animals for nectar, pollen and other resources. If you spot a wasp nest or beehive, please mark the location in some way if possible and notify Council or the landcare group so that it can be destroyed.

Competition from weeds prevents the re-establishment of native plants along the creek and its flood plain. Please let us know of any Gorse and Blackberry our eradication efforts may have overlooked. We are tackling other woody weeds like Willows and in some areas, we are re-establishing native ground flora. If you want to help by pulling or digging out the weeds, please make sure you know how to distinguish native plants—some of them resemble weeds.

Our wallabies are a welcome presence. When planting we install tall wire guards, otherwise most of the tree and shrub seedlings we plant would either die or take much longer to grow past the reach of Black Wallabies. Even when their foliage is out of reach, Wallabies may eat the bark from Banksias. You can help by letting us know of any guards that have fallen off or which you think are strangling the plant

Although illegal, dumping of rubbish is a continuing problem all along the creek.  Since the trail was established, dumping of domestic garbage has reduced, but commercial businesses that back on to the public land often dump earth and industrial waste.  Even dumped “clean fill” (subsoil) is a threat as it shrinks the floodway, raising the height of floods upstream.  Any earth works along a flood plain require a permit.

Many residents still dump plant debris from gardens gets over back fences.  The dumped material can smother native vegetation and often it directly introduces weed seeds.  As it rots down it adds nutrients to the soil which promote weed growth