Feral Fighters Autumn Fox Campaign
March/April 2019
Kylie Challen, Biosecurity Coordinator
Many members of our wonderful community are already working with the South East Local Land Services’ biosecurity team in preparation for the autumn fox baiting period.
For those not actively involved, you may be asking why fox control is a priority for South East Local Land Services, and for many land managers in the community.
The fox is predominantly carnivorous; it is an opportunistic predator that enjoys feeding on native birds, reptiles and even small to medium mammals, which is a big problem for sheep producers.
Foxes are the world’s most wide spread carnivore. This is no surprise, when you consider their ability to adapt and also scavenge food (i.e. road kill, eggs fruit/vegetables and even insects) as necessary.
The fox litter ranges from 1 – 12 pups. And in autumn, the young ones are old enough to look for their own territory. Which makes autumn a key time on the fox control calendar.
The success of baiting programs is heavily reliant on land managers working, and baiting together. Feral Fighters is a great initiative that coordinates private land manager baiting programs in line with surrounding public land managers on a landscape scale. This nil-tenure approach gets the best results for all involved.
If you would like more information about baiting on your property, or how to become a member of your local Feral Fighters group, please contact your nearest Local Land Services office and ask to speak with the biosecurity team.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the FeralScan app. It’s a great tool that allows land managers and members of the community to report pest animal sightings/activity.
This data is so valuable to Local Land Services. It assists us with planning pest management, particularly the protection of assets in the South East including livestock, water quality, endangered species and our economy.
So please, visit the FeralScan website today, and download the app www.feralscan.org.au .