Wild dogs have become a problem in many areas of rural Australia. In Victoria, areas with large wild dog populations include: Big Desert in the Mallee, Gippsland, Far East Gippsland and North East Victoria.
There are three types of wild dog: Native dingo, domestic dogs gone wild in the bush and a mixed breed of domestic and dingo. It is thought that there are no pure breed dingoes left on mainland as they have bred with wild domestic dogs. I did see what looked to be a pure Dingo a few years ago in the snow below Mt Hotham.
The dogs are hung in trees or on fences to show the public the scale of the problem and to show other farmers that predators in the area have been caught.
The dogs live in forested areas and move out into farmland to find food. In North East Victoria it is estimated that $1.5 million stock is killed by wild dogs a year and the problem is growing. The wild dogs don’t always kill for food, sometimes they “thrill kill” eating the guts out of their prey and leaving it to die a horrible slow death. The farmers trap, shoot and bait to try and eradicate the dogs. The state government also has programs of aerial baiting in remote areas, wild dog controllers and works with the local communities to promote local approaches in wild dog management. It has re-introduced the fox and wild dog pelt bounty. More information can be found on the Agriculture Victoria website.
Whilst the dogs on the tree look gruesome, the cache has been placed to show what is happening in rural Victoria.
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The cache is hidden in a traditional way not far from the dog tree, it can be on the nose near the tree, but not as much as you might think.
Keep an eye on the geokids near the road, it’s not busy, but the cars do travel fast along this stretch of road.
There is plenty of room to park, the gate leads to a farm house so be mindful where you park.
Please hide the cache properly so others can find it.