PROSPECT man Stuart Spencer could not believe his eyes when he glimpsed what he and his brother and family are convinced was a fox with a rabbit in its mouth on the Midland Highway.
Mr Spencer and his brother and father were on their way home from Hobart on Sunday night when they claim to have spotted the pest about 1am between Campbell Town and Conara.
"We got a shock, we just couldn't believe it," Mr Spencer said.
"I have seen plenty of foxes before on the mainland so I know what it looks like. It was only 20 metres away from us so it was pretty easy to see.
"We would have run it over if we could but it was on the other side."
Mr Spencer said he had always suspected Tasmania had not completely escaped the invasive species' reach.
"I think there's been quite a few sightings in that area," he said.
"I still think there could be a Tassie tiger hanging around, but I think there's more chance of a fox."
No live fox has ever been caught in Tasmania.
Mr Spencer said his father had reported the sighting to the 1800 FOX OUT hotline.
Calls to the phone number, operated by the state's Invasive Species Branch, decreased last year to 304 compared with 318 in 2011 and 397 in 2010.
The unit has stopped collecting physical evidence of fox activity, such as scats, since deciding to focus on a statewide baiting program. Before that 61 scats were tested and found to carry fox DNA.
The most recent scats confirmed as from a fox were picked up near Burnie and Railton in mid- 2011.
