Pest animal manager Richard Francis is routinely called to inner-city suburbs to remove up to seven foxes at a time from dens they have established beneath houses.
Across Melbourne, invasive species including foxes, deer, rabbits and feral cats have entrenched themselves in urban areas.
A fox on the prowl in Victoria.
“Often we get called because people see half a dozen fox kittens playing outside their kitchen window with half a dead possum,” Francis said.
Francis, a zoologist and president of Vertebrate Pest Management Association of Australia, is contracted by councils and Parks Victoria to trap, bait and shoot introduced animals along train lines, parks and environmentally sensitive areas.
Francis noticed an increased presence of introduced animals during lockdown, when they were less disturbed by humans and could move about the city more freely. And two years of rain has increased food availability for animals, including rabbits and deer, as well as foxes, which are notorious omnivores.
Introduced predators such as cats and foxes prey on native wildlife and livestock while deer and rabbits inflict devastation on native flora and crops.
Vertebrate Pest Management Association Australia president Richard Francis.Credit: Jason South
Francis, who is based in Eltham, said deer were particularly prevalent in areas between the suburbs and regional Victoria. More and more, though, deer are pushing deeper into inner suburbs as they travel along the Yarra River.
He said some people were afraid to leave their houses at night after encountering large stags on their properties. “They’re looking up at this animal with antlers, and it scares them shitless.”
Francis said in a busy week he might harvest 10 deer, fumigate 100 rabbit warrens and despatch a dozen foxes. He is currently working in the Brimbank, Hume, Whittlesea, Nillumbik, Moonee Valley and Manningham council areas.
Melbourne Wildlife and Pest Control owner Ken Keyes is similarly busy. He once removed 17 foxes over 10 days from a house in Balaclava in Melbourne’s inner south.
Keyes said introduced animals were causing havoc for the environment. “It’s a disaster out there,” he said.
Watsonia resident Jane Gardner said she had seen several foxes in the two years she has lived in the north-eastern suburb. Her household was visited by foxes this week when her husband opened the door after hearing a noise outside.
“There were two foxes sitting there looking at him in the front yard,” she said.
One of them was caught on their CCTV camera.
A fox sauntering in a front yard in Watsonia.
Research indicates that invasive species numbers will grow dramatically unless further action is taken.
Agriculture Victoria figures show fox numbers have reached about 16 per square kilometre in Melbourne, compared to between four and eight per square kilometre in agricultural regions.
A report by the CSIRO found rabbits, first introduced in Geelong, had infested two-thirds of Australia. And the Invasive Species Council estimates deer numbers have reached about 1 million in Victoria alone.
The council’s deer project officer, Peter Jacobs, said deer were doing extensive damage to sensitive natural habitats, gardens and farmland while posing a danger on roads where they are often hit by cars.
Deer roaming in Eltham.
“We are absolutely seeing increasing numbers,” he said.
Earlier this year, a deer crashed into a house in Alphington in Melbourne’s inner north-east, while another had to be euthanised after it was seen running along Johnston Street in Collingwood in 2021.
Jacobs said deer were travelling along the Yarra River from forested areas into the middle and inner suburbs.
“That’s obviously become a corridor or pathway for deer,” he said. “They come out of that and go into suburban areas and get spooked. It’s a horrible situation for the animals as well.”
A report released this week by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions found feral deer were responsible for $91 million in economic damage per year nationwide.
“The distributions of feral deer populations are expanding across Australia, and densities are increasing,” the report said.
The report cited Frontier Economics figures that showed feral deer in Victoria could increase from 1 million presently to between 1.7 million to 4.6 million by 2050.
The centre’s chief executive, Andreas Glanznig, said all invasive species, flora and fauna, caused about $25 billion in economic losses every year and impacted more than 80 per cent of nationally threatened species.
“Invasive species are a festering wound for Australian agriculture and the environment,” he said.
He said feral cat numbers tended to fluctuate from about 6.3 million nationally during times of abundant food to roughly 2.1 million in droughts when food and prey were more scarce.
Earlier this year, the state government released its deer management plans for east and west Victoria that focused on protecting biodiversity, agriculture, Indigenous heritage and water quality.
The plans include shooting programs, fencing and monitoring as well as eight community-led programs on Melbourne’s outskirts to control deer numbers.
Environment Minister Ingrid Stitt said the state government plans would give communities and land managers practical tools for dealing with deer problems.
“Deer are capable of destroying habitats and our native plants, which is why we are doing more to combat this introduced species,” Stitt said.
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