Bats

[artme]

A couple of months ago a bat colony established itself in the trees along the creek about 100m from our house.

Two weeks ago they decamped.

Wonder why?

Maybe if we knew we could help out the good folk in Gayndah.

[ColW]

Most likely there was a food source nearby, flowering natives probably, all conjecture of course, but if the flowering was over or some other event stopped it like heavy rain and there was no alternative food supply for them then they would simply move on. The Bats are due to give birth around October so they'll need to find a constant food supply before then. Did they all go?

[artme]

Yeah, thought of that Col, but came up with no clearcut answer. All the orchards around here were cleared long ago and there are few fruit trees in back yards. I keep an eye on the flowering of the native vegetation and nothing seems to fit.

For may years we had bats flying in here from I don;t know where to feed on Cocos dates ( NOT good for them.) and some used to bring mandarines from somewhere, perch in the Lilli Pillies next door and eat the fruit there.Once thiose trees were trimmed to fence height the visits stopped.

[ColW]

Around 18 months ago we had 30,000 move into the park right in the CBD, their arrival coincided with a massive flowering event in the local box/ironbark forests around the City, it was unprecedented in recorded history here. They stayed for about 6 months then the majority left. There's currently around 2000 that seem to have taken up permanent residence and they are feeding around the city, there's about 20,000 homes. They can apparently fly around 30km's from their base to find food which would put the many orchards south of here within range but so far they've not touched them, our forests didn't flower very much this year so I guess they're feeding in backyards. With all the rain and violent weather in QLD over the past couple of years, it seems the Bats spread out all down the east coast but the majority have now returned to QLD. Some of the colonies are massive and I feel for the communities worst effected by their presence, hopefully if the QLD forests can support them without too many more damaging weather events the populations will disperse, the whole situation is now a political minefield but I fear a cull of these creatures would have devastating effects on their overall population and in turn the service they provide to the forests.
All this without mentioning their unique ability to carry viruses.

[fxst]

The bats as our kangaroos are not endangered and they cull roos so why not bats? Also the saltwater croc is not really native to Aust but also protected too much also should have culls applied every few years to control them as well. All our goverments seem to be doing is protect species before and regardless of human life. Before protection at all cost most species where controlled by nature with droughts, bushfire etc but now overpopulate due to the food sources we humans grow. I reckon maintain wildlife at levels where they surive comfortably but not let them get to plague proportions.
Flame away I have asbestos suit ready :2tsup:
Pete (realist)

[ColW]

I have no desire to torch you Pete, this topic is already hot enough. Opinions vary on the Flying Fox's " vulnerable to extinction" status, also to their biological ability to breed to "plague" proportions. to me the comparison to other species falls down when I consider they can fly long distances, a luxury other species don't have. Except if we take into account far more destructive species such as starlings. I don't think there's a disregard for Human life, in terms of Public Health risks there are more threatening ones than the likelyhood of catching a virus from a Flying Fox, though for the people living so close to these massive colonies i'm certain the previous 5 deaths in the past 20 years, 1 direct from Lyssavirus, 4 indirect from Hendra are foremost in their minds and rightly so because the threat exists that's for certain, what isn't certain is that culling the creatures will lessen the risk to Humans or be beneficial to the Flying Fox

[artme]

:aro-u: Well said Col. Too many unknowns in the whole equation to take any action that may prove disastrous.

I rather like bats. I know they squabble and make a lot of noise, but so do the Rainbow Lorrikeets and nobody has sugeested culling them!

[hughie]

Hmm, from my point of view and given the way population of late is surviving and thriving.
Then culling colonies that might be deemed to near to human population and or finding some way to move the colony on is the way to go.

It goes back to a discussion I had once about what do you do with the snake that bites you. I was instructed to save it [alive] so the hospital could supply the correct antidote....... fat chance of that.

[Vernonv]

I was instructed to save it [alive] so the hospital could supply the correct antidote....... fat chance of that.:D Good way to get a second bite.
I believe the current process is to NOT wash the bite site and instead bandage it. The hospital can then test the bandage that was over the bite site to determine the correct anti-venom.

[AlexS]

:D Good way to get a second bite.
I believe the current process is to NOT wash the bite site and instead bandage it. The hospital can then test the bandage that was over the bite site to determine the correct anti-venom.
Spot on.
Most snake bites are obtained while trying to kill a snake.

[Avery]

The bats as our kangaroos are not endangered and they cull roos so why not bats? Also the saltwater croc is not really native to Aust but also protected too much also should have culls applied every few years to control them as well. All our goverments seem to be doing is protect species before and regardless of human life. Before protection at all cost most species where controlled by nature with droughts, bushfire etc but now overpopulate due to the food sources we humans grow. I reckon maintain wildlife at levels where they surive comfortably but not let them get to plague proportions.
Flame away I have asbestos suit ready :2tsup:
Pete (realist)


Why do you say that salty crocodiles are not native to Aus.?

[fxst]

Why do you say that salty crocodiles are not native to Aus.?

Because that species of croc is in NG Indonesia Philipines etc as well They will swim vast distances in oceans up north.
Pete

[Avery]

Because that species of croc is in NG Indonesia Philipines etc as well They will swim vast distances in oceans up north.
Pete
This species of saltwater croc. is actually spread as far as India. It was found right through SE Asia but is now extinct in places like Thailand and Vietnam etc. due to habitat destruction and human predation.

Just because it is found in other places in the region does NOT mean that it is not native to this place. It has been part of Northern Australian continent for probably millions of years. It probably existed when Australia and India and all the places in between were part of the same land mass.

[fxst]

All the more reason to cull the species.
Pete

[ColW]

The Gayndah Council has now been granted a permit by DERM to remove the branches of the trees the Bats are roosting in, they have to wait until the pups are independant and able to leave the roost on their own, so it won't start for a couple of months. I hope this is successful for dispersing the Bats in the long term, short term though I reckon instead of 250,000 bats in one spot they'll spread out all over the city for a while. It will be interesting to see if it works as there's many other communities watching. I'm thinking they'd need to lop nearly every tree in the city to 4 metres for this to be really effective.

Note though, the Bat Colony at Gayndah is roosting over the towns water supply, it isn't the Hendra or Lyssavirus that presents the danger here, it is E-Coli.

[artme]

I read about the move to remove the braches in Gayndah and just hope it succeeds.

I think smoke was another mooted option but would probably have turned out to be a short term fix.

Its a great shame when civilisation and wildlife clash like this.

[specialist]

The bats as our kangaroos are not endangered and they cull roos so why not bats? Also the saltwater croc is not really native to Aust but also protected too much also should have culls applied every few years to control them as well. All our goverments seem to be doing is protect species before and regardless of human life. Before protection at all cost most species where controlled by nature with droughts, bushfire etc but now overpopulate due to the food sources we humans grow. I reckon maintain wildlife at levels where they surive comfortably but not let them get to plague proportions.
Flame away I have asbestos suit ready
Pete (realist)

Don't have a bat problem personally, but I aggree with you completely, cull to your hearts content.

Robert