BTB Issue 18 - Feral dog and fox bait lure attracts interest
Beyond the Bale - Issue 18
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Feral dog and fox bait lure attracts interest
The new, easy-to-use spray bait and trap attractant FeralMone is generating a lot of interest among wool-growers looking for solutions to feral dog and fox attacks on their flocks.
Since the launch of FeralMone in April, its distributor Animal Control Technologies has reported sales of almost 1,000 cans to rural merchandise outlets across Australia, including to Rural Lands Protection Boards (RLPB) in NSW.
Animal Control Technologies Marketing Manager Paul Crock said most interest in FeralMone had come from areas that had feral dog problems.
"It's still early days, but we've seen good sales into pre-dominantly feral dog areas, which is consistent with the fact that traditionally feral dogs are harder to catch than foxes," Mr Crock said.
"But that's not to say that people with fox problems aren't using it. The feedback we've had is that it is working well, and woolgrowers interested in trying FeralMone can purchase or order it through their local rural merchandise store or RLPB office in NSW."
Dubbo RLPB ranger Rhett Robinson said he'd had good feedback from woolgrowers in his area, where foxes were a huge problem, and he was about to place his third order for FeralMone when Beyond the Bale spoke to him in early June.
"FeralMone has certainly generated a lot of interest, because it is something new and anything that will help to increase the effectiveness of feral dog and fox control will be welcomed," Mr Robinson said.
FeralMone cans, which retail for $24.95 each, contain about 300 squirts of the synthetic fermented egg (SFE) scent that was developed in the United States and is known to be an effective attractant for a number of canids (coyotes, dogs and foxes).
Pestat Ltd, the spin-off company of the Pest Animal CRC, last year found a practical way to use the scent by packaging it in an aerosol can, which can be used to spray sand plots, baits and traps.
Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) has underwritten the cost of Pestat undertaking the first production run of the new aerosol cans.
Pestat Managing Director Dr David Dall said the positive response to the launch of FeralMone indicated that people were keen to try an innovative option for controlling feral dogs.
"Our trials show FeralMone can significantly increase site visitation and bait uptake by foxes and feral dogs," Dr Dall said.
Western Queensland woolgrowers Michael and Marilyn Clift know all too well the impact feral dogs can have on a woolgrower's livelihood.
Despite being inside the barrier fence, last year feral dog attacks cost the Clifts around $50,000 in lost production on their 9,200 hectare sheep and cattle property, 'Isoroy', near Tambo, including ewe and lamb deaths, lost wool production and time and money spent trying to catch the offenders.
The situation has become so bad that unless they find a solution, the Clifts are seriously considering leaving the wool industry and doing what many other woolgrowers in their area have been forced to do - run only cattle.
But the new aerosol spray bait attractant, FeralMone, could help control the problem.
Mr Clift said spraying FeralMone, which comes in cans, around a trap in combination with spreading dog dung and blood and bone fertiliser, had brought immediate success.
In this way he caught his first feral dog - a lactating bitch - before it had done any major damage to his lambing ewes.
"Previously we've had a dogger, baited or gone up in the helicopter to find and eliminate the dogs, and we may have got them but only after significant cost and damage was done," Mr Clift said.
"This is the first time I've used traps and I think FeralMone will be a good aid for getting the dogs to come to the traps, and it is certainly good for beginners because it is conveniently packaged in a can, which is easy to use.
"I can set the traps and leave them sitting there waiting for the dogs to come to them, rather than going after the dogs once we have seen attacked sheep.
"The bitch that I caught could have cost us a few thousand dollars, particularly once her pups were big enough to start to teach to kill. So this is a great start and saving to our business.
"While there is a cost in having to check the traps, with the number of dogs today we have to be prepared to wear that, whether we are in sheep or cattle."
Feralmone is available from rural merchandise outlets across Australia.
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