It was a case of 'hang on, help is on its way' for the colony of grey headed flying foxes in Kew on Sunday.
While many of us basked in air-conditioned houses or cars, a group of volunteers braved the heat to save the little creatures that hang upside down.On Sunday an emergency team spent hours on the Yarra River banks at Kew and Fairfield monitoring the bats, which can overheat, drop off and die.
The group, from Friends of Bats and Bushcare, goes into action when the temperature reaches 38 degrees. Sunday was the fourth such occasion this summer.
In the 42 degree scorcher on January 6, more than 300 baby bats died due to heat stress.The Friends’ leader Lawrence Pope said he could hear their mothers calling for them, and so, in the sweltering conditions on Sunday, he was determined to stop it happening again.
He and four other volunteers spent hours watching native bats, spraying water on them from Ghostbusters style water backpacks, if need be, to cool them down as they hung from eucalypt saplings and wattles.
The most distressed creatures, hanging lower than normal in bushes or even dropped on the ground, can be given water syringed into the side of the mouth for them to lap up, have salty water injected into the skin, or be taken to a wildlife shelter.
The Bellbird picnic ground, off Yarra Boulevard, was closed to the public on Sunday to prevent humans getting too close to the distressed bats.
The bats react to the heat by fanning themselves with their wings, or by flying along the river surface and licking the water off their bellies.
The most distressed creatures, hanging lower than normal in bushes or even dropped on the ground, can be given water syringed into the side of the mouth for them to lap up, have salty water injected into the skin, or be taken to a wildlife shelter.
The Bellbird picnic ground, off Yarra Boulevard, was closed to the public on Sunday to prevent humans getting too close to the distressed bats.
The bats react to the heat by fanning themselves with their wings, or by flying along the river surface and licking the water off their bellies.
Mr Pope said the bats sometimes fall into the water, but they can swim.
He said the bats, native animals listed as vulnerable to extinction, play an important role in tree pollination.
He said the bats, native animals listed as vulnerable to extinction, play an important role in tree pollination.
Volunteers range from academics to baristas, wildlife rescuers, vets and nurses.
Mr Pope, a retired social worker, led the campaign to save the bats in 2003, which resulted in their moving from the Royal Botanic Gardens in South Yarra to Kew. But he said they are like ''grey nomads'' who migrate up and down Australia's east and south coast seeking eucalypt nectar and pollen to feed on.
Stephen Brend, Parks Victoria’s grey headed flying fox project officer, said the volunteers’ work was ‘‘absolutely essential’’ and without them, ‘‘we’d have more dead bats. They save lives’’.Mr Brend said along with climate change and habitat destruction, the bats' biggest problems is public perception that they are pests.
He said bats' attacks on backyard fruit trees can be easily alleviated by covering fruit with nets with holes you can't put fingers through, that the bats won’t get caught in.
Mr Pope, a retired social worker, led the campaign to save the bats in 2003, which resulted in their moving from the Royal Botanic Gardens in South Yarra to Kew. But he said they are like ''grey nomads'' who migrate up and down Australia's east and south coast seeking eucalypt nectar and pollen to feed on.
Stephen Brend, Parks Victoria’s grey headed flying fox project officer, said the volunteers’ work was ‘‘absolutely essential’’ and without them, ‘‘we’d have more dead bats. They save lives’’.Mr Brend said along with climate change and habitat destruction, the bats' biggest problems is public perception that they are pests.
He said bats' attacks on backyard fruit trees can be easily alleviated by covering fruit with nets with holes you can't put fingers through, that the bats won’t get caught in.
sm done - not instagram
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