David Cummings is the owner of Engaeus, a property situated 3 km north of the township of Erica in Victoria. The property is a dedicated wildlife sanctuary and bush regeneration site, and David wishes to return it to a pristine natural state. The land is additionally registered with Land for Wildlife.Engaeus spans 8 hectares of well-vegetated bushland bisected by Hotel Creek. The block is situated on the edge of an older basalt land type sitting on Lower Devonian basement rock, resulting in ferrosol and dermasol soils. Natural erosion from the creek has created a 29-metre-high waterfall on the land.
The property contains three Ecological Vegetation Classes: Wet Forest on 5.6 hectares, Damp Forest on 1.8 hectares and Warm Temperate Rainforest on 0.4 hectares. Vegetation is dominated by silvertop (Eucalyptus sieberi), messmate (E. obliqua), mountain ash (E. regnans), mountain grey gum (E. cypellocarpa), blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and rough tree ferns (Alsophila australis).
A wide range of wildlife is present on the property, most notably long-nosed bandicoots (Perameles nasuta) and burrowing crayfish (Engaeus spp.). The land is also home to bare-nosed wombats (Vombatus ursinus), koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), microbats and antechinuses. Native snakes, frogs, toads and skinks are also found on the block.
Several feral species are also present including sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), feral cats (Felis catus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes).
