Wheel Cactus seeds are most commonly spread by crows (Australian Ravens) eating the luscious red fruit and later flying to a nearby tree to digest and excrete the seeds. So, the plants very easily spread from property to property, to parks and native bush, with no regard to fence lines or boundaries. The only way we can prevent this continual dispersal is to gradually eliminate all fruiting plants.
Parks Victoria has been consistently working over the past 10 years to destroy Wheel Cactus in the Maldon Heritage Reserve. Their attack has been so successful, it’s now very difficult to find a mature Wheel Cactus plant in our historic park. However, this beautiful landscape is under continual threat of new infestations from neighbouring properties that still have fruiting plants.
The Tarrangower Cactus Control Group and Parks Victoria are still working together to eradicate Wheel Cactus and are now focusing on properties near the park that pose an immediate threat the native bush nearby. We invite everyone to join us for a rewarding morning in the outdoors helping to eliminate more fruiting wheel cactus plants. Just bring a hat and wear sturdy shoes; the gloves, goggles and equipment are all supplied.
The last Wheel Cactus Community Field Day for this year will be held on Sunday 29th October.
The location is a few kms north of Maldon at a property on Tarrangower School Rd. and will be well signposted along Waterson’s Rd. The morning’s activities will begin at 10:30 am and end with an enjoyable BBQ and friendly chat. These events are family friendly, but children must be accompanied by a parent at all times.
Don’t forget, if you have an old injector gun that no longer works, please bring it back to us and we’ll swap it for a working model. If you can’t make it to our next field day, call or text Jan on 0400 973 528 and she’ll organise a drop-off or pick-up.
