Services
What We Do
We hunt and trap feral problematic pest animals for removal on land where they are causing issues of stock safety and welfare, this poses a risk of transmitting disease and infection where it otherwise is not present for protection of the environment, stock and native animals.
We also attend emergency out calls for animal welfare and can assist vets in humane animal destruction.
European Rabbits
Myxomatosis didn't stop Australia's rabbit problem as this photo taken near Adelaide in 1961 shows. (Source:RabbitScan/IACRC)
Deliberately released for hunting in the 1800's, the spread of Rabbits was phenomenal.
Rabbits graze on native and introduced vegetation, crops and pastures; this can effect crops from seeding and reduce the overall yields.
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There is at least 304 Australian threatened species that are at risk by the humble European Rabbit!
They also damage native plants and the land by borrowing large warrens up to 3 m deep and 45 m long, this causes instability, soil erosion and even puts stock at risk of injury by falling into a borrow.
Economical impact - Rabbits cost Australian agriculture $206 million in production losses each year.
European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Busted returning from the chook house.
Busted returning from the chook house.
Deliberately introduced to Australia for recreational hunting in 1850's, the Red Fox is an incredible dynamic, cunning and smart animal; they have removed native Australian species and continue to threaten the wild population of natives such as birds, reptiles, amphibians and other mammals.
On average there are 4 Foxes per sq km throughout central Victorian farmland but can be as high as 16 per sq km!
Economical impacts - Primary fox predation may result in 4-30 per cent of lamb loss but their impact on agricultural production are estimated at around $227.5 million per annum which is broken down into $17.5 million in sheep production losses, $190 million in environmental impacts, $16 million in management costs and $4 million in research costs...
For each fox we remove for you, you are saving hundreds of dollars in stock not being lost to predation a week with sheep between $30-$190 each...
In 2009 over 90,000 lamb losses were reported due to predation in Victoria alone!!!
Feral Cats
A cat alert in the bush.
Feral cat with a bandicoot (WA DEC)
Established in the wild by the 1850's brought by settlers from europe. As well as escaped domestic cats, they were also deliberately introduced in the 1900's in a foolish attempt to control the exploding rabbit population as well as rats and mice they also threaten native animals such as birds, frogs and even wallabies and other mammals.
Feral cats have a home range of about 10 sq km and on average there are about 0.7 per sq km in the Mallee although numbers are much higher east of there and higher around watercourses
Cats prefer live prey and have been known to grow quite large up to 10kg in the wild and take down young stock such as lambs.
Economical impacts - Feral cats in 2002 with the population growing since then cost the economy $146 million with management, environmental costs and research.
There are about 18 million feral cats in Australia with shooting the most effective control form!
Wild Dogs & Dingoes
Caught in the act, feeding off a recent sheep kill! (Troy Wilton)
A pack of dingoes in the Greater Blue Mountains National Park. (Brad Purcell)
Caught in the act, feeding off a recent sheep kill! (Troy Wilton)
Dingoes were brought to Australia about 4,000 years ago by Aboriginal people and used for food and hunting and dingoes continue to excel at hunting in the wild today and are protected where they do not pose a threat to livestock. Dogs came in 1788 and have since formed a hybrid with the dingo population.
Wild dogs are an elusive and smart pest that can decimate livestock and occasionally pose a threat to humans and other domesticated animals; however it is estimated that there is 1 wild dog per 2 sq km throughout Australia.
Livestock losses - up to 16 per cent of our sheep are taken each year; in 2003 5.4 million sheep deaths were from dogs at $30-$190 each. Cattle - 2-7 per cent of all cattle losses in the Northern Territory in 1995 were from dogs as $540 a head, dogs cost each N.T cattle station $89,000 p.a
Economical impacts - $16M in sheep, $33M in cattle and with management and fencing cost Australia $67 million dollars each year (2002)
Goats
A feral goat in the Murray Sunset National Park, more than 8000 goats live in the national park! (The Age)
A feral goat spotted on a western victoria property.
A feral goat in the Murray Sunset National Park, more than 8000 goats live in the national park! (The Age)
Interestingly goats again brought by European settlers were set free by sailors on islands as an emergency food source then later for fiber, milk and meat. Goats have also been released as a means of weed control in NSW and QLD and are highly damaging similar to locust by leaving a wake of devastation behind them, eating whatever they can and are capable tree climbers!
There were an estimated 2.6 million feral goats (1996) however populations have overall increased since then. Goats do have an impact on stock by removing grazing food and damaging fences however have a much larger environmental risk with damage to native vegetation and exposing soil to erosion. Land degradation by feral goats is a threat to the survival of native species such as the Malleefowl, Wallabies and other flora.
Economical impacts - Feral goats cause $25 million a year in losses to farmers.
Deer
Damage to an Alpine bog on the Bogong High Plains (Parks Victoria)
(Joe Tapp)
A stage rubs a tree in the Nariel Valley. (Francesca Bowman)
Damage to an Alpine bog on the Bogong High Plains (Parks Victoria)
With six species of deer found in Australia at least since the 1860's, we can almost guarantee that deer live near you and their range and abundance is increasing throughout the Grampians and greater Victoria.
We are able by law to spotlight deer on private land which is the most effective way of dealing with them; deer cause damage to orchards, vineyards, crops and other plantations, remove grazing for stock and also are damaging to fences and aid the spread of weeds.
The total economical impacts have not as yet been officially recorded yet with farm gate estimates between $200-$20,000 in an effort to control deer damage with $650,000 fruit loss for one orchard!
And many more other pests
If you have a problem with a pest that isn't listed such as problematic birds or pigs or any other animal. Please contact us today to help find a solution for you and if we are unable to arrange a quick response that is adequate for your pest, we will find a specialised professional for you!