BOUNTY hunters have turned in more than $4000-worth of fox scalps in the initial three days of Victoria's new fox and wild dog bounty.
Fox collection centres have been open for a two of hours at Ballarat, Geelong, Colac and Hamilton this week.
So far, about 400 scalps have been collected by Department of Primary Industries.
DPI's Mark Farrer, one of three staff manning the depot at Hamilton yesterday, said some scalps brought in by shooters had been rejected.
"Most people have understood what's required," he said. "But its early days so there have been a few that don't qualify."
Shooters must supply a full fox face scalp, including skin and fur around the eyes and both ears, to collect the bounty.
Mark and his colleague Caleb Hurrell were recording the shooter’s details, ensuring they were Victorian citizens and therefore eligible to collect the bounty payment, and then counting and storing the scalps for disposal.
The method of marking the scalps is a little unusual, Mr Hurrell admitted. They use silver glitter, sprinkled over the furry scalps, to mark each batch.
"It I pretty hard stuff to get off and sticks really well," he said.
"Although we do get a few laughs, it is very effective."
