Close to the Merri creek and a cornucopia of composting food waste, many animals have made CERES their home. Rats can find their way into compost even when it is buried underground and foxes remain an occasional predator to CERES’ chooks and native fauna along the Merri. If you spot one on site, do tell us.

CERES’ native plants and vegetable gardens attract native and non-native animals as well as invasive plants and fish.

Some of the beautiful but difficult inhabitants of CERES include our many rabbits, often seen hopping away on an early morning walk through the park. Apart from causing widespread erosion with burrows, rabbits nibble on new plants and are the reason for tree guards armouring many of the trees along the Merri.

Closely related to Kikuyu lawn and spread throughout CERES like a rash, Couch grass is a particularly difficult weed that spreads through a rhizomatous root system and can only be removed in summer. Like most of the weedy grasses, it was probably introduced here years ago for pasture.

Mynah birds are a common sight both at CERES and in suburban backyards. They take over the tree hollows that possums and native birds, such as parrots, inhabit and compete with native birds over food and territory.

Gambusia, or ‘mosquito fish’, is prevalent in the pond and fun to catch. However, they’re much more effective at getting rid of frogs than they are of mosquitoes. Fortunately the vegetation in the pond allows protection for frog eggs and some other fish eggs to breed.