Anyone seen a fox?

[Drifting]

that sounds suss to me. With their wildfire breeding techniques taken into account, you'd think they'd be seen more often and be more numerous if they were that wide spread.

[flyfisher]

Does sound a bit suss. If there are that many foxes in Tassie,why haven't they come up with one real carcass.
With the amount of poison bates they have put out they should have poisoned one or two by now.
Maybe they aren't as numerous as we are led to believe,because if the numbers suggested were really here there should be many more sightings and a roadkill or two.
There always seems to be a rash of sightings and/or scats found when their task force value is questioned.
And if there are as many as they would have us believe,then there eradication program is a total failure.
Just my 2c worth.
ff

[Joel]

I don't think they are trying to make it sound as though foxes are numerous.
I read on their website that he poulation could be as low as 50.

[corvus]

Does sound a bit suss. If there are that many foxes in Tassie,why haven't they come up with one real carcass.
With the amount of poison bates they have put out they should have poisoned one or two by now.
Maybe they aren't as numerous as we are led to believe,because if the numbers suggested were really here there should be many more sightings and a roadkill or two.
There always seems to be a rash of sightings and/or scats found when their task force value is questioned.
And if there are as many as they would have us believe,then there eradication program is a total failure.
Just my 2c worth.
ff

Beware the lapse in management !! one Fox who cares 1 Fox +1 Vixen + cute Cubs a total disaster for our Wild Life,
corvus

[the one]

they spend a lot of money to get rid of foxs maybe they have a hidden agender might not want , thylacines found either logging industry worth a billion dollers a year. maybe the logging industry should sponsor a trail cam search for the thylacine be very good pr . and if it was found , they would have good grounds for (we can log and save the thylacine as well)

[Taurë-rana]

A friend of mine's neighbour had one walk through her garden the other day as bold as brass.

[tasadam]

A friend of mine's neighbour had one walk through her garden the other day as bold as brass.

Where about? Did they ring the task force? What was the response like?

[climberman]

Does sound a bit suss. If there are that many foxes in Tassie,why haven't they come up with one real carcass.
With the amount of poison bates they have put out they should have poisoned one or two by now.

I don't recall ever seeing a dead fox anywhere except as road kill here in NSW, despite widespread baiting in many areas (combined with dog baiting as well - I've never seen a dead dog either, come to think of it). It may be a result of the behavioural response to 1080. I wouldn't factor it in as an issue. You guys should hit em and hit em hard and hit em in a variety of ways. My personal view is that if you have 50, the battle may be lost, perhaps the next few years are the crux as to whether it can really be won.

[Liamy77]

Sadly, we've allowed much of the wildlife on the mainland to become extinct or under threat through past introduction of feral pests; cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes, those flying vermin Indian Mynah birds, cane toads, the list goes on and on...

sorry to be contriversial but you left "dingo" off that list - they were introduced too lets not forget....

[johnw]

Sadly, we've allowed much of the wildlife on the mainland to become extinct or under threat through past introduction of feral pests; cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes, those flying vermin Indian Mynah birds, cane toads, the list goes on and on...

sorry to be contriversial but you left "dingo" off that list - they were introduced too lets not forget....

Well I did say the list goes on and on... . As to whether dingoes are native, I thought there was some scientific philosophy that after a certain number of years being passed (probably thousands) an introduced species can be considered indigenous? Not sure. Although I certainly wouldn't want any of the pest animals I mentioned to be considered as such, regardless of how long they've been here .

[Liamy77]

yeah i'd say the environment has adjusted to em by now ..... pity they aren't better competition for the fox though.

[olblackbilly]

dont underestimate the cleverness of the fox task force, nearly as clever as the foxes themselves who choose to only do poo"s in a widespread area, is it to put the fox task force off the scent or maybe the foxes and the fox task force share the spoils amongst themselves....not a bad job though either way......olblackbilly

[dtrain]

I swear i saw one...ok ok so was part of a group that saw one...up the north east coast...50K north of St Helens...

[ILUVSWTAS]

I swear i saw one...ok ok so was part of a group that saw one...up the north east coast...50K north of St Helens...

Indeedely doodely dude. We saw SOMETHING odd that day.....

[north-north-west]

Well, there's one less living fox now than five weeks ago. Hard bugger to hit, too. Weaving all over the road before and after.

[Joel]

they spend a lot of money to get rid of foxs maybe they have a hidden agender might not want , thylacines found either logging industry worth a billion dollers a year. maybe the logging industry should sponsor a trail cam search for the thylacine be very good pr . and if it was found , they would have good grounds for (we can log and save the thylacine as well)

I thought I'd heard some good conspiracy theories before, but that one takes the cake. Put alot of thought into that one..



Well done Sir!!!

[Drifting]

I'm kind of partial to that one! LOL

[Neil Grose]

I saw one last year just south of Cressy about 3km before the turn off to Poatina and Great Lake.
If I'd being traveling at 100kmh instead of 90kmh I'd have hit it.
I'm definite it was a fox coz I've seen plenty in various sojourns to the mainland, especially around Ballarat and the Mornington Peninsula.
I contacted the Fox Task force, who rang me back pretty quickly and were extremely good and interested as it balanced some other evidence they had in the same vicinity.
Why haven't we seen more, run over more, got more evidence - don't know, but I'm 100% convinced we have a small population.
I'm still more worried about feral cats though
I don't think I've ever seen so many in the highlands as I have this year.

[flyfisher]

I saw one last year just south of Cressy about 3km before the turn off to Poatina and Great Lake.

Ok, ok ok if Neil Grose saw one then I'm convinced. Haven't seen one myself and I'm out and about in early morning and in late evenings and dark, but some folk win tattslotto and others never get a sniff.
Certainly hope they don't become thick enough to see many. Those feral cats are a worry though, I have seen a few myself this year.

[Joel]

I like to compare it to Spotted-tail Quolls (not Easterns). I've lived all over Tassie, mainly around or in NPs and really, you never really see them. Lot's of Tasmanians don't even know they exist.
Some people see them all the time in a certain small area, but they are territorial animals and I think they're seeing the same one over and over.
Interesting how many Tasmanian people are completely open to the idea of the Thylacine being out there, but get all fired up about foxes.
Seems to me that it would be a near miracle if there wasn't a population of some size.
Let's be honest, it would have to be a hell of a conspiracy if all the evidence was faked and I don't believe humans are very good at keeping such large secrets especially in a small place like Tasmania.

[bushwalker zane]

I saw what I think was a fox near Tunbridge coming back from Hobart a few days ago. It was about 6:30pm, wandering near the road. At first I thought it was a cat, but it had a long face. It wasn't native whatever it was. I just reported it then.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Saw something just past Ouse on Sunday morning around 530am. T'was either a huge cat, a fox or a dog/cat hybrid.

Stalking away from a roadkill on the side of the road cautiously watching the car go past... had 3 others in the car with me but the dopey buggers were all half asleep!

[Nuts]

T'was either a huge cat, a fox or a dog/cat hybrid.

Ive heard that about those Southern cats and dogs (happy b'day btw)

[ILUVSWTAS]

Hehe yep we breed em weird down here.

Thanks mate!

[tasadam]

Just found this article. Interesting reading...
http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/we ... nzo-jimbo/

[flyfisher]

Very interesting Adam.

I've always been a sceptic due to the lack of evidence from shooters and fishermen who are out and about early and late in the day.

S'pose it's a nice little job for some but costly for nothing so far.

[Joel]

Is this really the first time you have heard of this flyfisher and tasadam?

I encourage everyone that is reading this forum to study the established facts and THE HISTORY, before making judgment.

I can't believe that the De Blass interview is being brought up now, as if it is new evidence of a conspiracy.
If you were following the situation even remotely, you would have understood the the problems with Mooney's comments literally years ago.

[Overlandman]

From ABC News
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-24/m ... ection=tas

More flak for fox eradication program
Tasmania's controversial Fox Eradication Program has again come under attack, with a Government-commissioned report calling for an overhaul.
The independent review found the program has failed to meet key objectives, is plagued by internal communication problems and is broadly opposed by the community.
Former Parks and Wildlife chief Max Kitchell finished his report in March, but the State Government has taken six months to make it public.
It calls for a review of the program, saying: "large holes in baiting coverage appear to have been experienced"; and "the program has not rolled out at the pace envisaged."
The report has called for baiting to be scaled down and the use of sniffer dogs increased.

The long-running program is yet to uncover a live fox.

Its unpopularity has been blamed on poor communications with the community and within the taskforce.
"If a system exists to promote information flow across the program it is clearly deficient," the report said.
Long-time critic of the program, Independent MLC Ivan Dean, says monitoring needs to be done before baiting.
"They need to establish the fact that they do have foxes in these areas and then you would bait," he said.
"To do it the other way around to me was always an absolute nonsense."

[Happy Pirate]

Does sound a bit suss. If there are that many foxes in Tassie,why haven't they come up with one real carcass.
With the amount of poison bates they have put out they should have poisoned one or two by now.
Maybe they aren't as numerous as we are led to believe,because if the numbers suggested were really here there should be many more sightings and a roadkill or two.
There always seems to be a rash of sightings and/or scats found when their task force value is questioned.
And if there are as many as they would have us believe,then there eradication program is a total failure.
Just my 2c worth.
ff

Beware the lapse in management !! one Fox who cares 1 Fox +1 Vixen + cute Cubs a total disaster for our Wild Life,
corvus

This is exactly the point.
We know the problems foxes can cause and we know how easily they can slip through quarantine defences.
The point is NOT; are they there already? (as a justification for a Fox task-force)
The point is; what havock will they cause if/when they slip through? (as a justification for a Fox task-force)
Steve

[Strider]

Not sure if I have posted this already but I reckon I saw a fox while driving through Hayes on the Lyell Highway around 2009-2010. Didn't get a good enough look at it, but can confirm that whatever it was had a pointy snout and one hell of a bushy tail and was between the size of a cat and a medium sized dog.