birding-aus

Fox road kills in Melbourne

To: "Scott O'Keeffe" <>, birding <>
Subject: Fox road kills in Melbourne
From: Laurence Living <>
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 18:37:08 +1000
Hi Scott

Thanks for the reply on foxes.

I like the idea of foxes becoming more obvious along roadsides looking for road
kills and Mcdonalds. Saw a further two road killed foxes yesterday.

Last year I found two road kill Powerful Owls along a major road that bisects a
National Park here in Melbourne, a road that is often strewn with dead
ringtailed possums.

Do wedged-tailed eagles suffer a similar fate in the outback?

Laurie

Scott O'Keeffe wrote:

> Hi Laurie.
>
> Are foxes more common, or are people just taking more of an interest in them
> (and therefore making more of an effort to see them)?  Are they more common
> or just more visible?  Foxes are happy to scavenge.  I've found things like
> Mars bar wrappers in scats.  I have heard it suggested that increased road
> traffic and the increasing prevalence of take-away foods are both
> contributing to an increase in sightings.  Notice that I was careful not to
> say an increase in numbers.  If foxes are scavenging along roads more often
> because road-killed animals and take-away food scraps are increasingly
> abundant, then the foxes may be simply more noticeable.  I'm not trying to
> be funny.  Its just that unravelling the relationship between predators and
> their prey is rarely as simple as drawing simple conclusions from what often
> turn out to be impressions rather than quantatative observations.
>
> Scott O'Keeffe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
>  Behalf Of Laurence
> Living
> Sent: 14 August 2001 18:11
> To: birding; Keith Johnson; ken & vivien harris; eddie garcia
> Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Melbourne, foxes and calci-virus
>
> Hello birders
>
> The recent thread on 1080 and foxes around Brisbane reminded me of the
> increasing frequency of sighting foxes in and near Melbourne this last
> twelve months or so.
>
> In that time I have seen foxes in the Dandenong Ranges National Park,
> Jells Park, Braeside Park and in the wetlands at Edithvale, and none of
> them were particularly shy.
>
> The number fox road kills around Melbourne, I believe, has increased
> substantially, with hardly a day passing when I dont see one going to
> work.
>
> Why are so many foxes about? Has the dcline in the rabbit population
> forced them to prey further afield?
>
> Laurie Living
>
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