The invasion of the north Queensland town of Charters Towers by a huge colony of flying foxes has been likened to something out of a horror movie. An estimated 200,000 bats are currently in residence, and it’s said to be making daily life a nightmare.
“This is something nobody in this community has seen in living memory,” Mayor Liz Schmidt told the ABC. “It’s way more than we’ve ever seen before.”
The Lissner and Centenary Parks have been closed, followed by the Kennedy Regiment Memorial Pool. The council warns the close proximity of the roosts could pose an adverse risk to the public.
“We’ve actually found bat faeces in the pool and there are dead bats in and around,” said Cr Schmidt. “They’ve now moved into the trees around the pool because the Lissner Park trees are full.”
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection says it is working closely with the Charters Towers Regional Council to manage the flying foxes. The ABC reports that the management options being considered include relocating the bats to a new camp, removing or replacing trees, and using netting and constructing barriers to reduce noise.
However, flying fox ecologist Jon Luly said communities were better off leaving bat colonies alone because they are important pollinators.
He warned that dispersing the flying foxes could cause colonies to fragment and send the animals into other suburban areas. Dr Luly told the ABC that suburbs that became roosts should allow bats to move along in their own time, which could be up to a matter of days or weeks.
“Don’t chase them around, because the more chasing around, the more stressed they’ll get,” he said. “Realistically speaking there’s not much of a risk to health as opposed to feeling that it is dangerous.”
Current scientific data presents no evidence of bat-to-human spreading of the Hendra virus, and the lyssavirus is really only contracted if you are bitten or scratched by a bat that happens to be sick with that virus.
i have found shotguns very effective in controlling bats
Perhaps Dr luly would like a big cage made to hold them all in his backyard. If that is not OK then maybe shoot the bloody lot.
We had the same problem in Singleton NSW and in the end the only way to do anything was to chop down the beautiful old trees in Burdekin Park, which were on their last legs anyway…because of Dr Looloo’s “pollinators”. The bat problem is now over and the park can be used again, people can walk around the streets, the deafening nightly screech was over and we can have ANZAC Day services without getting swooped and pooped upon.
Fly a crop duster plane an spread sulphur on them. The bats will move out in a big hurry.
I love seeing the bats fly over. Very majestic. But I guess some people are too gun happy and want them gone.
Get rid of them or they will get rid of your Tourists.
Bat Poo in all swimming pools alone is a big No No.
Cars and caravans can be written off.
Would Dr Luly like to drink from our rain water tanks.
Thanks but no thanks?????????
Just reminded me NEVER to refill my CV tanks from waters of Charters Towers. Full Stop
declare it an all male roost and you can move them along and cut the trees down
When I was a young boy back in the early 60’s, I lived in Cairns and back then we had this problem with the flying foxes.
My mates and I used to make pocket money, given to us by neighbours who lived close to where the colony lived.
We would belt the tree trunks with big rubber hammers which would send vibrations through the tree trunk and limbs. This would disturb the sleeping flying foxes (daylight hours) and they would fly off and return to roost again. Again we would belt the trees with the rubber hammers and so it would go on.
In 3 days all of the flying foxes would move on to another area so they could get some sleep.
No trees or flying foxes were harmed and us kids had money in our pockets. Needless to say we then went to where the new roost was and proposition the neighbours living near by to move on the flying fox colony for a fee of course.
Those were great times as a kid back then.
Have had them in Singletons Burdekin park close to 20 years now. Completely ruined park. Most trees chopped down. Councils get caught up in all sorts of red tape. Singleton has spent hundreds of thousands on getting rid of them
Not many trees left so only a few 100 bats now. Won’t be much longer and will get our park back. Shame about the historical trees we shall never get back
We had a flying fox problem in Duaringa in Qld and the council and other government bodies including the so called friends of the bats all agreed to make as much noise and as loud as they could for a couple of days and nights, carbide cannons hooters sirens and stuff, HEY NO MORE FLYIN FOXES, it works every time?????
The current influx of flying foxes in Charters Towers are the Little Red’s & they are nomadic. They will leave in about 2-3 months after the melaleuca & eucalyptus trees stop flowering. The town’s water supply is secure & safe to drink.