‘I think the bats are winning’: Flying Foxes linger in Charters Towers

The Charters Towers council says the town is 99.9 per cent flying fox free after another roost removal. Read why locals aren’t celebrating just yet.

Flying foxes in Holliman St, who’d moved camp after Lissner Park was successfully made flying fox-free in late 2022.

Charters Towers Regional Council says 99.9 per cent of flying foxes are now gone from town after a systematic removal effort.

It’s a massive achievement for a town which has been plagued by flying foxes for over a centuary.

But residents aren’t celebrating in the streets just yet.

Long-time Racecourse Rd resident Alf Williams lived just 100 metres from the last flying fox stronghold on Holliman St.

When the latest round of removal attempts began this February, the retiree watched from his balcony.

Racecourse Rd resident Alf Williams. During the dispersal from Holliman St, flying foxes were fleeing into his backyard trees.

“I think they are wasting their time,” Mr Williams said.

“They are throwing everything at them, but I think the bats are winning.”

When interviewed a few weeks later after the removal, Mr Williams admitted the contractors had “some success”.

“There are a few stubborn ones who keep returning to the town park, but it’s only 25 to 30,” he said.

“I think everybody is happy they are gone, but it depends if they stay gone.”

Mr Williams was an original member of council’s now-defunct Flying Fox Advisory Committee - or ‘bat club’, as he calls it.

“I grew up in Charters Towers 90 years ago and we had bats in the park then too,” he said.

“Bats know where they come from. Parents of these bats still remember their old roosts - they will always come back.”

Charters Towers suffers from both black and red flying foxes using the town as a roosting site. Photo: Tim Pascoe

Right now Charters Towers Regional Council is celebrating the removal of all flying fox colonies - but they are reminding residents the odd night-time visit is normal.

“With the current significant flowering event, this is to be expected,” a council spokesman said

“Even more so with young, juvenile flying foxes feeding locally while they build their strength for longer flights. This is very different from flying foxes roosting through the day.”

The October 2022 removal of the main flying fox roost from Lissner Park and February removal of the Holliman St roost were both completed by Biodiversity Australia, contracted by council.

There are still no flying foxes in the Young’s Block roosting site created by the state government in nearby bushland.

There is a section of the community who believe the non-lethal dispersal methods used by council and the contractor are ineffective and a waste of money.

Most advocate culling, but Snow Heare - also a former member of ‘bat club’ - has been pushing for a high-tech solution.

Ms Heare runs the controversial, but active, Charters Towers Flying Fox Action Group on Facebook.

She believes money and time could’ve been saved by using a sonic sound device trailled by Ingham resident Brian Fenoglio.

Flying foxes are a protected species and cannot be killed or injured.

Originally published as ‘I think the bats are winning’: Flying Foxes linger in Charters Towers