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The Secret Life Of Bats

Story: Alyssa Mackay | Photo: Renate Hottman-Schaefer
Published On : Oct 25, 2021
The Secret Life of Bats
Bats sometimes get a bad rap, but there's much to admire about these unique creatures.

Keep Sandgate Beautiful Association (KSBA) Inc are inviting interested locals to find out more about these important native animals at a bat walk in Curlew Park this month.

The event will be presented by Paul Middleton, who has lived close to the local flying fox or fruit bat colony for 30 years.

I have taken an interest in the flying foxes ever since I moved to Deagon in 1991, Paul said. I have learned a lot through living close to and observing the flying foxes over a long time.

Flying foxes are essential to the health of our native forests, pollinating and spreading seed in bigger volumes and over much larger areas than smaller mammals, birds and insects. This also helps to provide habitat for other flora and fauna species.

Attendees will learn about the importance of flying foxes to the environment, their breeding, parenting and social habits, and the different species in Curlew Park.

The Curlew Park colony has been home to three different types of flying foxes ' Black, Grey-Headed and Little Red, Paul said.

In the last five years, the patterns have changed. Numbers in the Curlew Park colony are significantly reduced, and for much of the last three years there have been no flying foxes there at all.

Paul said local flying foxes were more dispersed than they used to be, as a few smaller colonies had formed in nearby areas.

The Black flying foxes arrived back a couple of months ago, and they are the only ones in the colony at the moment, he said.

Black flying foxes give birth between September and November, and those on the walk may glimpse a few newborns.

There should be a few new babies in the colony when the bat walk takes place, although they should be observed with sensitivity, Paul said.

There are many ways the community can care for flying foxes.

Avoiding disturbing roosts, Paul said. If you find a sick or injured flying fox, do not touch it, as there is a risk the animal may be carrying Lyssavirus. Instead phone a flying fox rescue organisation.

Bat Walk
Saturday, 6 November, 9am
Curlew Park (meet at pedestrian bridge)
74 Curlew Street, Sandgate