Foxes Chirnside Park: Playful foxes spotted making themselves at home in backyard

A cheeky fox and her cubs have been spotted playing in a Chirnside Park backyard, but there was a sinister side to their game.

A family of foxes have been spotted playing in the backyard of a Chirnside Park family’s home.

Tarsh Champness shared a video of the foxes, believed to be a mum and her four young offspring, playing in her backyard about 7am Tuesday.

But although they look cute, what the foxes were playing with was more sinister – a dead possum.

Tarsh said it was definitely a surprise to see the foxes in her yard at that time of day, and made a public appeal on Facebook asking for advice on how to move them on.

She believes the fox family have been living under the shed in the family’s backyard.

“We have had several dead possums in the backyard in the last week or so and I had assumed it was a cat until I found these guys playing outside the windows in the early hours of the morning … it was cute until I realised it was a dead possum they were playing with,” she said.

“I have two small children and I am not overly keen on sharing the backyard with these guys or the increase in dead possums this week.”

Although fox sightings are common in Melbourne, the animals are normally more active at night.

According to Agriculture Victoria, foxes can travel up to 10 to 15km per night but often rest in hides during the day.

Control measures used for foxes include baiting, fumigation and trapping.