Knox fox sightings can be shared on smartphone app FeralScan that collects data on Australian pests

KNOX’S most brazen foxes are being caught out on a website tracking the pests’ movements.

KNOX’S most brazen foxes are being caught out on a website tracking the pests’ movements.

Sightings of roaming foxes are being shared through FeralScan website and smartphone app, which collects data on fox populations across Australia.

The site’s fox map shows a cluster of sightings from Wantirna, Knoxfield, Boronia, Bayswater and Ferntree Gully — including 36 so far this year in Knox.

The website has had 13,500 records of fox activity across Australia since it launched in 2012.

Photos and reports are all generated by the public and people can add their own by sending in details of what they’ve seen or taking a photo and sharing their GPS location.

Feral Scan project manager Peter West said the resource offered a useful insight into where foxes were causing the biggest problems.

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Mr West said that helped inform strategies on controlling fox populations.

He said recent sightings suggested a growing concentration of foxes in urban, built-up areas.

“We know they become confident, they become bold and super cheeky, wandering onto people’s decks.”

Daniel Morphett in his back garden with toy poodle Chloe, near where a fox killed his other dog.

A recent rise in fox sightings in the outer east prompted Knox councillor Jackson Taylor to call for a targeted fox management program.

Cr Taylor said the council planned on working with neighbouring councils, other agencies and stakeholders.

The council has investigated the possibility of investing in a trapping program where foxes would be humanely caught and euthanised.

Infrastructure and engineering director Ian Bell said Feral Scan provided the council with reports on fox sightings every six months, which gave them a better understanding of fox “hot spots”.

The FeralScan app is available on iPhone and Android.