Hay Flat sheep producer Greg Crawford stopped fox baiting about 15 years ago after baits claimed a couple of his best working dogs, and with shooting now his primary control method, is welcoming the announcement of SA's new fox bounty scheme.
"It's hard to put a figure on dollar value damage, but fox numbers have been pretty thick here, and you only see one in 20," Mr Crawford said.
Mr Crawford runs 2600 first-cross ewes at Hay Flat and 2000 Merino ewes at Field, and said foxes had been giving him "a much harder time" with lambs in the face of low rabbit numbers.
"We get a professional shooter who take cares of the roos and deer, and he blows away any foxes he sees, so this bounty will be an added bonus - he'll have more of an incentive to do the foxes."
Mr Crawford expected there to be good interest in the bounty scheme, but he was concerned about how it would be enforced.
"I think the biggest danger is going to be poachers - what can be done and how that can be policed, I'm not sure," he said.
Primary Industries Minister David Basham said the scheme's success would be dependent on people doing the right thing.
Anything that provides motivation and incentive for landholders to get more involved with fox control is a good thing, for both primary production and native wildlife.
- PENNY SCHULZ
"These schemes, people have to treat them in the right spirit. Yes, we need to remove the foxes but we need people to do it in an appropriate way," he said.
Limestone Coast Landscape Board chair Penny Schulz echoed Mr Curtis's sentiment in terms of the bounty not being a standalone control approach, but used in conjunction with baiting and large-scale cooperative programs with neighbours.
"Anything that provides motivation and incentive for landholders to get more involved with fox control is a good thing, for both primary production and native wildlife," she said.
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Ms Schulz said the Limestone Coast was on-track for record fox baiting levels - about 17,000 baits administered in 2020 and 14,000 baits going out so far this year in the region - suggesting fox numbers continued to be a large problem in the area.
"Landholders are getting serious about fox control, and we hope the bounty program will complement the baiting programs," she said.
"It's a good time for this to launch, as coming into spring is a good time to start baiting programs. If people are unsure about how to put their fox and rabbit control programs together, they can get in contact with their local landscape officer."
- Details: pir.sa.gov.au/biosecurity
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Claire Harris
Journalist at Stock Journal. Hailing from South East Queensland, Claire moved to SA at the start of 2019. She is passionate about agriculture, cooking, sport, and line dancing, and loves a good long road trip.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Hailing from South East Queensland, Claire moved to SA at the start of 2019. She is passionate about agriculture, cooking, sport, and line dancing, and loves a good long road trip.
