Dead bat fried by wires causes mess for Gympie residents

It might be too early for Halloween but a Queensland family called for help to end their nightmare as gory goo ‘dripped’ from above on to passing pedestrians.

The decomposing remains of an electrified bat sparked health concerns in Gympie this week, with reports one resident was hit on the arm by “bat juice” and another had a near-miss.

The flying fox died at the weekend after landing on a wire suspended above a footpath on Crown Rd, Gympie.

In the high temperatures, pieces of the animal had been slowly dropping ever since, with a small army of ants congregating on the footpath beneath.

Local councillor Bruce Devereaux was contacted by a resident concerned about pedestrians potentially being exposed to “liquid lyssavirus” from the dead and decomposing animal.

One Gympie resident was reportedly struck by falling pieces of the decomposing bat, and another had a near-miss while walking along the path.

“I wouldn’t want to be hit by it or have one of my kids hit by it,” Mr Devereaux said.

The councillor said it was not unusual to be called for help with dead animals, and he had himself cleaned up several bats for people “who weren’t able to themselves”.

This one’s location 5m from the ground and on an electrical wire above a residential neighbourhood left everyone at the mercy of authorities. The initial advice was it could take up to five days for Energex to remove the animal.

This one’s location 5m from the ground and on an electrical wire above a residential neighbourhood left everyone at the mercy of authorities.

The initial advice was it could take up to five days for Energex to remove the dead bat, but they came on Wednesday morning and took care of it.

‘Callous’ driver fled collision scene in good Samaritan’s car

An Energex spokesman said the initial plan to remove the bat on Monday changed when staff were diverted to help with a bushfire at Wolvi and Goomboorian.

“While we aim to remove wildlife from the network as soon as possible, in this case a community emergency took priority and crews were required to reconstruct the damaged network and restore power to Goomboorian and surrounds,” a spokesman said.

‘Lives at risk’: Anger as neighbourhood runs dry in heatwave

Originally published as Dead bat fried by wires causes mess for Gympie residents