Life Sciences Commons^™

Are Foxes Serious Predators Of Stock?, Peter Mawson, John Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Commercial farming of goats for mohair, cashmere and meat production is a rapidly developing industry in the south-west of Western Australia.

In this article, the authors discuss the results of two studies conducted by the Agriculture Protection Board in which the levels of predation of kids and lambs by foxes in commercial goat flocks, and an experimental multiple-birth genotype sheep flock in the southwest of Western Australia, were measured.

What Do Foxes Do At Night?, Peter Mawson, John Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Foxes are often labelled as ruthless killers of lambs, kid goats and poultry. However, studies of the incidence of predation on lambs and kids have shown that foxes generally kill less than 3 per cent of lambs and 3 to 5 per cent of kids,

Are foxes, therefore, killers of lambs and kid goats, or just timid scavengers?

This article provides an insight into the behaviour of foxes in lambing and kidding paddocks at the Department of Agriculture's Avondale Research Station, Beverley, and near Moora, during 1987 and 1988.