Foxes: The Return

Varminting and vertebrate pest control. Small game, hunting feral goats, foxes, dogs, cats, rabbits etc.

Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by ZaineB » 03 Jun 2021, 11:33 pm

animalpest wrote:I have successfully kept an area of 900 square km fox free for 6 years. It can be done



wonder where that might be, there isnt a highway in WA that I didnt see at least a few foxes, dogs and cats on when I toured around in 2019 and I went pretty much everywhere over a 4 month period
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 04 Jun 2021, 10:52 am

In the Gascoyne. Gnaraloo Station 92000 ha. Kept it dog free too
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by ZaineB » 04 Jun 2021, 11:55 am

I'd be willing to bet there is at least 1 on there, fox that is.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 04 Jun 2021, 2:00 pm

Nope. There were none.
We did extensive surveys regularly and not one was seen, or tracks found.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by ZaineB » 04 Jun 2021, 2:03 pm

would bet the station that one has put its foot on the joint at least once in that time, I am more than familiar with the gascoyne and its crawling with foxes.

but ok, thats nice if you managed to get rid of the pests, but nothing will quell my skepticism of your claim.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by Oldbloke » 04 Jun 2021, 2:19 pm

animalpest wrote:Nope. There were none.
We did extensive surveys regularly and not one was seen, or tracks found.


That would be a mammoth task
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by brinny » 04 Jun 2021, 5:35 pm

animalpest wrote:Nope. There were none.
We did extensive surveys regularly and not one was seen, or tracks found.



How many trappers and shooters were employed to cover that area??
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 06 Jun 2021, 12:23 pm

We were on the property between 3-6 times per year for 10 years. Generally 1 week at a time. One or two people doing the work. Trapping, baiting and shooting. Estimates from occupancy rate modelling was that 1100 foxes removed in the first 12 months.

We did surveys and control. There was also a team of scientists that surveyed every day for 4 months every year.

Reports from our work were published. So was the scientists work. Training the scientists on track identification was essential for getting the data right.

This was primarily about reducing the impacts of foxes on marine turtle nests. When we started there was nearly 100% predation of nests per night by foxes. It took a couple of years to knock the foxes down and then to work out how to keep it that way. Then work on dog's and feral cats, surveying changes to native fauna numbers by cameras, sand plots, track counts, pitfall traps and cage and Elliott traps.

It was a terrific program, great outcome and clearly demonstrated that fox (and dog and cats) could be controlled. 10 years of my life and that of the scientific team manager.

One fox spoilt the 7 years without foxes so it was essential to continue doing the program otherwise foxes would be back every autumn.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by Oldbloke » 06 Jun 2021, 12:32 pm

What a great outcome animal pest.
:thumbsup:
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 06 Jun 2021, 1:29 pm

Yeah, everyone loved it.
Oh and the fishing was amazing. Finish work or in the morning before our night activities, in the dingy.

Spotlighting only accounted for less that 7% of foxes. Baiting and trapping did the rest. Not bad on cats though.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by Oldbloke » 06 Jun 2021, 1:49 pm

Now I better understand why the buggers can be so hard to shoot at times. Lol

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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 06 Jun 2021, 2:43 pm

Not to say we couldn't have shot more. But we were after total wildlife protection and doing it the most efficient way possible.

So shooting supplemented baiting and trapping and also helped in the monitoring and surveying of pests as well as the little native animals.

There were areas where we didn't want to bait so a bigger effort on shooting was conducted there.
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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by Skinna » 06 Jun 2021, 5:30 pm

animalpest wrote:Yeah, everyone loved it.
Oh and the fishing was amazing. Finish work or in the morning before our night activities, in the dingy.

Spotlighting only accounted for less that 7% of foxes. Baiting and trapping did the rest. Not bad on cats though.


This figure surprises me.
Sure its easy for uneducated foxes to take baits in an area that isnt usually baited, but same goes for shooting...& its a lot easier to spread bullets to wipe out almost an entire generation of dumb pups that socialise together, than it is to set baits & traps, not to mention the double & triple time taken in monitoring/resetting them, (which obviously isnt necessary for placing bullets). And only one week every 2 months in such a big area is also surprising.
(just a statement, not an argument).

What sort of bait (1080...?, & what, if anything else...?) & what are the follow-on effects of it...ie; other natives/wildlife casualties from the bait/how long a working life does it have in the environment & down the food chain..?...(Was that also monitored, or just an ignored & accepted casualty of the program??)

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Re: Foxes: The Return

Post by animalpest » 06 Jun 2021, 9:08 pm

This is not open pastured paddocks shooting. It's coastal scrub with some open areas.

Traps and baits are there 24/7 but your bullet isn't. It's how you do it so if I set a trap or place a bait I expect it to kill a fox. The first 4 years we only did 3-4 visits per year then upped it to 6 for the next 6 years.

The budget dictated how much time we spent there. So how we controlled fox numbers within time and budget restraints was critical.

Yep, 1080 baits. Used an average of 200 per trip, which is very low as they are normally put out at 5 per sq km or 5 per 100ha. Initial baiting was around about 500.

1080 baits degrade through bacteria and fungi. The baits were too tough for native ominvores and carnivores to consume. Native fauna increased throughout monitoring.

Native fauna in WA have a much higher tolerance compared to introduced species such as the fox due to thousands of years of evolutionary exposure to 1080 bearing plants that naturally occur here.
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