Twist to $40m fox tale

Eddie Juras … and his fox mate Eric …

WITH anger growing over the State Government’s almost $40 million fox hunt, a campaign is emerging to fly in an expert to finally discover the truth.

But the Government has rejected bringing West Australian “fox whisperer” Eddie Juras to Tasmania, despite him being a guru in the field of fox tracking.

Residents concerned about 1080 fox baits have joined with long-standing fox sceptics to raise money to fly Mr Juras to Tasmania to find evidence about the existence, or otherwise, of a fox population.

Mr Juras, who runs his own feral species eradication service and hunts foxes for the West Australian Government, wants to trap a Tasmanian fox in the next couple of weeks when cubs start to leave their dens.

He has calculated it would cost $24,000 for him to do the job: including airfares, vehicle hire, fuel, salary and supplies.

He is adamant he would have an answer to the fox mystery after 35 days, compared to the Government’s decade-long hunt.

“I would need four weeks in the field, and after that you would have a positive answer …”

…

South Arm resident Penelope Marshall is co-ordinating a group of residents opposed to the program and looking at ways to help fund a visit from Mr Juras, particularly because his fox-tracking methods do not rely on poison.

Read the full story, Mercury here

On Tasmanian Times:
• Penelope Marshall: The Sandford shape-shifters
• All about Eddie Juras … and his fox mate, Eric