WILDLIFE is returning to the freshwater ponds on a Wannamal property after a determined commitment to fox management saw about 80 foxes culled in the past three years.
The farmer, who did not want to be named, said in the past foxes had devastated his sheep flock to the point that he experienced less than 50 per cent lambing - which was unacceptable and led him to quit running Merino sheep and stick to cattle.
His property sustains a herd of 280 cattle, divided into four groups, with seasonal rotation allowing for an effective management of grass feed.
"A decade ago we undertook a baiting program to get rid of the foxes but it wasn't effective at all and didn't work," the farmer said.
"Baiting was costing a lot, it required a high commitment to documentation and time and we lost 50pc of our lambs, so we gave up on it and had no choice but to no longer carry Merino sheep altogether.
"But since then prices have improved and we thought we'd try running sheep again.
"I said to my sons, 'if we want to run sheep we have to get rid of the foxes'.
"So one of my sons and his cousin undertook a targeted and focussed fox cull."
The result achieved 38 foxes culled in 2017, the first year, 30 in 2018 and 12 so far this year.
The boys head out across the property about every three weeks between February and June (as they find time) to ensure that they are keeping on top of the situation and it seems to be working.
This year and three fox cull seasons later, the farmer has reintroduced sheep back onto the property.
The farmer said when marking lambs, the first mob of 165 ewes achieved a yield of 185 crossbred lambs.
"That's a 110pc lambing rate," the farmer said.
"We haven't seen that result in 20 years."
But the bonus result has been a return of wildlife to the freshwater ponds.
"Two years after we started culling foxes we saw freshwater chickens and an abundance of quails across the property return," he said.
"Last year, for the first time in a very long time we've seen quail and water chickens, as well as other bird life in the area - and we put that down to enormous investment in time on culling the vermin."
The farmer said it had also been unusually colder at night on the farm this year and wasn't sure if that had affected fox numbers in the area.
The farmer said he hadn't seen any wild dogs in the area yet but he had received calls from neighbours to be on the lookout for dogs and pigs after reports that they had begun to surface on neighbouring properties.
Last Wednesday, the Midlands Biosecurity Group (MBG) held a Wild Dog Workshop at Moora to discuss the issue and provide important information to farmers about what signs to look out for on their properties to safeguard against wild dog attacks.
MBG chairman Chris O'Callaghan oversaw the event which included a presentation and discussion led by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) wild dog expert and biosecurity officer Jim Miller.
The MBG has received "almost weekly reports" of wild dog attacks on farms in the area, which seems to be getting worse.
The latest reports come just one year after Namban farmers Kristie and Joel Ward shot a wild dog on their property and remote sensor monitoring was undertaken near Watheroo.
"Recent wild dog sightings and stock attacks in the Moora area has escalated the need for landholders to get proactive about detection of wild dog activity and control options," MBG said.
The workshop, which was held at the Moora Tennis Club, was attended by about 20 landholders, DPIRD staff and licenced pest management technicians.
It covered how to detect wild dogs on property, protecting domestic dogs from baits, available control strategies such as baiting, trapping and shooting and how landholders could get involved in future MBG activities.
Mr Miller said he had spent the past 22 years dealing with wild dogs in the rangelands, but due to the number of sightings in the West Midlands, he was now involved in workshops to educate and assist landholders in the area deal with the increased threat.
He said property owners could identify whether dogs were on their property by looking out for the signs of unexpected stock loses, low marking percentages, dead kangaroos, wild goats in the area, sheep stuck in fences, changes in livestock behaviour, livestock and kangaroos found in dams, an increase in the number of crows or birds of prey and tracks bigger than the size of a matchbox.
Mr Miller said in order to combat the scourge of wild dogs landholders needed to "start by removing foxes".
He said "get intimate with your patch of land, like the back of your hand" so that targeted baiting could be undertaken.
"If there's foxes you will always see a track, same with dogs," Mr Miller said.
"Dogs are covert - you won't see them when the density is low - it's very rare.
"By the time communities start seeing dogs the numbers have built up."
While some landowners were reluctant to involve themselves in the war against vermin, Mr Miller said they needed to remember that diseases could be transferred via rabbits and foxes from one property to another and it was in their best interest to work in with their neighbours to control the pests.
"One dog is one dog to many," he said
"What we are talking about here is community priorities and where we want to go.
"For the first time in more than 50 years we are starting to see control of wild dogs inside and outside of the State Barrier Fence (SBF) due to the Recognised Biosecurity Groups and the repair and development of the SBF."
It was also mentioned that emus had been building up numbers within the fence - with "constant reports from the community" to support that.
Mr Miller ran attendees through the application process to become a receiver and user of approved baits and also how to use the Feral Scan pest mapping app to assist in data collection on a range of declared pests within the State and their movements.
