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Showing posts with the label Foxes

Chickens become secret weapon in war on foxes

  Landholders are used to keeping predators away from chickens, but one landholder is using his feathered friends to win the fight against foxes.  Brunswick landholder Mike Jack has caught four foxes in just a few months—without bait, carcasses, or his chooks going off the lay—thanks to the clever integration of a fox trap into his chicken coop. The trap, positioned directly beneath where the chickens roost, exploits foxes' natural behaviour.  “They sneak around the pen and lo and behold—there’s a nice hole in the side. They can’t help themselves,” said Mike. Mike built the chicken coop himself, making it fox-proof—impossible to dig under or break into—and fitted it with an automatic door so the chooks put themselves to bed each night. He further customised the coop to suit the trap by cutting a hole in the hen house just big enough for it and placed the bulk of the trap inside the house, with the mouth of the trap jutting out from the wall.  He also added star picke...

Landholders with small properties not forgotten in fox control

Peel Harvey Biosecurity Group (PHBG) is urging landholders to ramp up control efforts as fox kits begin to leave their dens and hunt for food independently. The group is hosting a workshop on fox control for small landholders which aims to help property owners learn how to safely and effectively manage these invasive pests. Foxes prey on native wildlife and livestock, causing significant ecological and economic damage. The animals are a declared invasive pest under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (BAM) Act 2007 administered by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD).  The PHBG holds several workshops each year on control methods and loans traps to local landholders free of charge to bolster grassroots control efforts. Small landholders who wish to learn more about non-chemical fox control methods can book a place at the upcoming workshop, “Fox control for small landholders” . The workshop will feature fox expert and Licensed Pest Managemen...