Residents at breaking point over fox plague at Sandringham Golf Club
Bloodcurdling screams can be heard coming from a Bayside golf course and animals are “squealing for their lives” as foxes wreak havoc, frustrated neighbours say. But authorities deny there is a problem.
Inner South
Don't miss out on the headlines from Inner South . Followed categories will be added to My News.
Calls for a fox cull in suburban Melbourne are growing louder as Sandringham Golf Course becomes the latest spot to be overrun by the savage and murderous pests.
Stevens Parade’s Sandra Todd-Clarke — whose property backs on to the course — says she’s at breaking point over the increasingly rampant fox plague and bloodcurdling screams from animals being killed each night.
Ms Todd-Clarke, who has been living next to the course for 17 years, frustratingly jokes there is “murder on the course” almost every night and wants immediate action.
She is urging management to introduce a culling program during the major $12.7 million redevelopment of the course, which kicked off this month and is expected to be completed in December next year.
“The former golf course owner had baited and shot the foxes, but ever since Royal Melbourne took over (as tenant) … the problem has progressively gotten worse as the foxes breed,” Ms Todd-Clarke said.
“The absolute cruelty to the wildlife is very distressing and you hear the ducks squealing for their lives and all the animals dying so clearly when you try and sleep at night.”
She said a population control program was the only way to stop the destruction, but “no one was listening”.
“The foxes are constantly near my back fence and my little dog brought all the guts and innards from a possum that had been killed, and spat it over my garden,” she said.
“It’s making me question whether I want to live here anymore.”
Ms Todd-Clarke said her neighbours were fed-up too, and had reported foxes jumping over high fences and even killing a pet rabbit.
Leader reported that foxes were also causing headaches in nearby Elsternwick Park North in February, and numerous residents across Bayside and surrounds have reported increased attacks — including several chickens beheaded in broad daylight in Caulfield North.
Bayside Birdlife’s Tania Ireton backed calls for a culling or baiting program at the golf course, and across wider Melbourne, to stop the problem once and for all.
But Sandringham Golf Links general manager Philip Drew said “Mother Nature did an excellent job of managing the wildlife population … and (they had) not intervened since taking over the lease”.
“While we have received one complaint, we have no first-hand evidence of an increased number of foxes on the golf course,” Mr Drew said.
“If there is in fact an imbalance of foxes on the course we would act on any advice and procedure received from Bayside Council.”
MORE: FOX CAUGHT ON CAMERA STEALING THONGS
CHICKENS BEHEADED IN DAYLIGHT SUBURBAN ATTACK
RAMPANT FOXES KILL WILDLIFE AT ABANDONED COURSE
Bayside corporate services director Jill Colson confirmed the council was “supporting the tenant with advice and background information” but said any fox population issue was ultimately their responsibility.
“We cannot bait, shoot or trap foxes in case dogs or other animals are affected … but can potentially fumigate dens in breeding season which takes place in spring,” a previous council statement reads.
Crooks ran sophisticated drug trafficking operation in Melbourne
Two crooks, including one dubbed “Superfly” in drug circles, trafficked ice and heroin from a “safe house” in St Kilda that was protected by explosive devices that could be remotely detonated.
Teens charged after allegedly threatening group with machetes in Brighton
Four teenagers have been arrested after they allegedly brandished machetes and threatened a rival group on the streets of Brighton.