Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[MyHaven]

Annie , contrary to FEP ( fox eradadication program ) there are no foxes in Tassie. Thanks to the 1080 baits laid all over Tassie to kill the elusive ' imaginary ' beast , there are also fewer wombats, wallabies, quolls , Eagles and owls.

Excuse my ignorance "imaginary" beast? What is that?

 

[Fancychooklady]

Fancy ...   in a way you are very fortunate not to have foxes down there in beautiful Tasmania.  

But to think you have lost so many other birds and animals because of the eradication process with 1080 bait - is gruesome and just awful.  

From your comment, perhaps there were never any foxes there in the first place ? .... I would think free ranging, wild 'families' of the Tassie 'devil' might have been a natural deterrent to any foxes.   Figure they wouldn't like them too much.  

Seems there has been some good progress made in curtailing the facial cancer that has infected so many of the Tassie devils.   Saw where a new drug has had good success, obtained from the rainforests of Queensland ... called EBC-46.    It has also been trialled for use on humans with cancer, and those trials are ongoing at this time.

Cheers ........      

Annie there have been many false sightings and FEP will tell you that they have collected scat from several regions, but I fear it has all been to ' line their own pockets ' or create their own employment. I'm from NSW and have grown up with foxes and I doubt that I would be able to free range my birds to any degree , if there were foxes in my area. The distinct call of a ' vixen ' and even the smell of a fox is something not easily forgotten.
There is still hope for our beloved devil, unfortunately the healthy ones that were released , were released too close to civilisation and almost half became victims to the road.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Excuse my ignorance "imaginary" beast? What is that?

That would be the fox.

 

[User395221]

There is still hope for our beloved devil,

Have they still got that isolated group?

I love devils. If they laid eggs, I'd have them as pets. (yes, I know you can't keep them as pets, I just think they are great)

 

[Fizzybelle]

Ooops !! .... I find it difficult at times to keep up. !!

Especially when I haven't opened my computer or ( now iPad ) for a day or two.

From a very vague memory, Fizzybelles' Agnes, made a good recovery ? At least I sure hope she did.

Cheers ......

She did. It was fairly minor, she had a swollen gland under her eye, and a runny nose. She's a-ok now though, her only problem is getting used to laying eggs, which she complains A LOT about. Can't really blame her though.

 

[satay]

Appps, those are some STUNNING girls! You must be so proud!

Satay, I saw that post too late unfortunately! There's a very large devil on my shoulder already poking me to get more Belgians.

I saw they sold really quick which is not surprising. They were barred Belgians.

 

[satay]

Thanks for that.

The fox that visited won't be back. He's been disposed of. But if there is one there will be another. I watch for sign. I fortified and moved my nurserys and quarantines closer to the house where I have better line of sight. I must say that the council were great. They actually are looking for good places to trap. While they won't trap in the same spot on an ongoing basis they are coming back for the second time since October last year. I saw some wild bird remains - feathers only in a couple of places in the yard. One patch was outside of my bantam pen that appeared overnight. It could have been cats but cats aren't normally that thorough. While foxes normally only behead the birds the ones here have only done that to one while the other birds have been taken with very little remaining. It was like a grab and run.

I am just being careful. While I am enjoying restocking and building our family numbers, I can't stand the thought of having to go through it again.

Thanks for you tips.

I lost so many turkeys to foxes that i now only have 2 males that are pets. The girls kept getting out going down that back to lay and then the foxes would get them. Thankfully since they wiped out the turkeys i haven't lost a single animal to one. My girls all free range during the day and are penned at night. Think having the sheep may have helped too.

 

[satay]

You know looking is the first step, you might as well just accept it and give in to temptation now

Nope i behaved myself. Lucky they sold quickly. How is Carl doing?

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

Another nice sleep in this morning, the girls woke me up at 06:15AM.

Hey satay yeah, I am with you on believing it when I see it with regards it being cooler this week. Today is the first day of Autumn though

Bitty is a cutie!

I went to look at the sweet Belgians just for interest sake and the page content was unavailable; phew, dodged a temptation bullet there

Deej211 nice chookies!

Tee hee MyHaven my first thought when KiKi went broody was “Oh no, not again” and my second thought was “who is next?” lol

Wow appps, for once I am lost for words .. uuummm, Stunningly beautiful!

Fizzybelle my gals do calm down during winter and we all have a welcome break from broody fever.

Sam lovely eggs!

Fancy lol at “The Angelina Jolie of the bird kingdom”

Sometimes I wonder at the thought process behind animal control

very sad

... Cane toads? Yeah, that worked out well didn't it

Anniebee great info on foxes .. thank you. Also, a good discussion and tips; thanks everyone else also.

 

[satay]

Happy Birthday @IamSamSam