Bat colony moved from Barcaldine backyard
David Lewis
Posted September 09, 2011 10:56:04
A colony of up to 50,000 flying foxes has finally been forced out of a backyard in Barcaldine in central-west Queensland.
Residents of the town, east of Longreach, this week used pots and pans, cow bells and stock whips to disperse the little red flying foxes before sunrise.
The colony had been roosting in the backyard for seven months while the resident tried to secure a damage mitigation permit.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) spokesman Clive Cook says only two flying foxes remain in the town.
"We couldn't have wished for a better outcome really," he said.
"Once the young had grown up and were ready to fly, we gave the okay to start to trim the trees.
"That in itself, I suppose, displaced them and they went almost dutifully out of town and they went to a place almost six kilometres outside of town."
