We’re helping Caversham residents get involved in backyard predator control to protect native wildlife.
Backyard trapping in Caversham
We’re providing free rat and possum traps to 1 in 10 households in Caversham.
Our traps are easy to use, humane tested and are safe to set around pets. We aren’t using any toxins in our project.
Along with trapping, residents will help conduct predator monitoring from their backyard and provide feedback.
Here’s what’s involved in backyard trapping:
- Sign up for a trap and we’ll make a time to install the trap and show you how to use it
- Check and rebait your trap once a week/fortnight
- Report trapping data using app or website
- Complete three rounds of pest monitoring and backyard surveys with City Sanctuary staff
Sign up to host a backyard trap
Pest monitoring
Chew cards are a pest monitoring tool that help you find out what predators are visiting your backyard. Backyard trappers are helping us do three rounds of pest monitoring so we can see the impact trapping is having on predators.
Once your chew cards have been out for a week, submit your results using the form below.
Trap hub
Come visit our trap hub in Caversham Reserve and sign up for a trap. The hub is based out of a shipping container and you're welcome to swing by to find out more about the project. We'll be running several trapping workshops from the container over the next few months.
Trapping in reserves
Flanking the motorway are five pockets of bushy reserves that act as an extension of the Town Belt. One of these reserves is home to a very special endemic species, the elusive caterpillar-like peripatus.
This block of exotic and native regenerating bush provides a green corridor for native wildlife to inhabit and move through. Inevitably this also means there are pest species such as possums and rats.
A trapping network of about 60 traps has been set up across these reserves to provide safe habitat for native species. Our traps don't use any toxins and are targeting possums, rodents and stoats.
Project map
We have divided the suburb up into 4 sectors to make it easier for us to manage traps and to ensure we have good trap coverage across the area.
Volunteer opportunities
We’re looking for volunteers to help manage trap lines in the small bushy reserves surrounding Caversham. If you’re interested in checking and clearing traps, please send us an email [email protected]
If you would like to contribute to the project using different skills we’d love to hear from you!
Guides and resources
Find out more about how to set traps and monitor pest activity from your backyard.
Join our City Sanctuary Backyard Trappers group on Facebook
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