Foxes Melbourne: Brazen foxes frighten commuter near Gardiner station

They don’t have Myki cards but that hasn’t stopped a group of cheeky foxes from leaping out in front of commuters at a train station in Melbourne’s east.

A group of brazen foxes have made themselves at home at a train station in Melbourne’s east, leaping out and giving commuters a scare as they make their way to work.

A train passenger got the fright of her life when three foxes jumped out from bushes into her path as she walked to Gardiner station in Glen Iris last week.

The next morning another fox came onto the platform while she was waiting for the train, before fleeing from the train headlights.

The Glen Iris resident has also heard foxes screeching outside her apartment window, trying to get to a possum up a tree, and has noticed an increase in dead birds and possums in the area.

The Herald Sun recently reported foxes are causing havoc in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, with growing numbers killing small pets, jumping fences into backyards, climbing onto house roofs, and approaching people in daylight.

After contacting Stonnington Council, the resident was told getting rid of foxes was the landowner’s responsibility, in this case either the council or VicTrack, as the foxes appear to be living in an overgrown verge that runs along Carroll Crescent and the train line.

Foxes at Gardiner station.

A fox makes its way up a ramp.

A Metro spokesperson said it maintained vegetation around Gardiner station, including along the rail corridor of Carroll Crescent, through its vegetation management program.

The spokesperson said there had recently been an increase in vegetation growth across the whole rail network due to the wet weather.

“We will be inspecting Carroll Crescent this week and vegetation management works will take place as soon as possible,” they said.

A Stonnington Council spokesperson said as Agriculture Victoria regulated the control of pest animals, council officers were not authorised to help with the control of foxes.

“Pest controllers generally have the appropriate authorisation to conduct fox removal, although there are limits to how foxes can be controlled in urban settings,” the spokesperson said.

Residents and trappers are reporting a rise in brazen fox behaviour, with the pests now sighted in daylight hours strolling nonchalantly along suburban streets.

Alex Krstic, director at pest control company Wildpro, previously told the Herald Sun his trappers are catching 30 to 50 foxes a week across Melbourne, and are increasingly finding pet remains near the dens.