Wild Dog Encounter 31/08/14

Since approximately December 2013, on and off we have been hearing the howling and barking of wild dogs in the area.  Our son disturbed one in the long grass near the chook pen earlier in the year and then Jude saw one running through the back of our property not long after.  We have set the camera trap in different locations but are yet to have captured the dogs on camera.  While taking a walk through the property behind our place in August I spotted three pups and a mother wild dog, and was able to capture a few photos with the large zoom lense before they got wind of me and took off.  We have since discovered the greusome remains of a young out-of pouch joey that had been ripped apart by the dogs on our property in the dry creek bed and continue to hear their howling on and off.  We are currently looking into control options  as these dogs are wild dogs and not dingoes.  Council runs baiting programs for wild dogs, however we have contacted a professional licenced shooter. We are not keen on the idea of bait and would worry about other wildlife being poisoned, however it may need to be considered in the future, if other methods fail.

Currently the dogs are not residing on our property, but frequent our small patch of land on and off.  They no doubt cover a fair distance in the bushland surrounding our area and we have spoken to other neighbours who have also had sightings of them.   Despite being a pest animal, the dogs were very good looking, and didn't appear to be starving, no doubt they are cleaning up all of our wallabies, bandicoots, birds and other small animals.

B.G.