Sydney Bats to Go
In the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia are 20,000 bats that roost in trees for most of the day. At night they fly round feeding on the fruit in the trees that the considerate gardens have provided for them. Some say they have been a nuisance for years and certainly what attracts them are those same fruit trees that were grown to show a range of Australian trees.
Over the years they have tried with loud noises to stop the bats roosting and that failed. Now there is a blow up figure that flaps its arms. It doesn’t bother them.
But it does bother the authorities and they have now decided that the bats must go.
So next year they are going to move all 20,000 bats.
How? These are big things so catching them will be lengthy. Scare them away? That won’t be easy either since they have been trying for years. Cutting down all the fruit trees so their food source is gone? Seems unlikely given that they are the Royal Botanical Gardens and cutting trees down seems against their remit.
The bats are a tourist draw. Yes, the paths get slimey with their droppings and fruit; the smell is obvious but visitors have put up with all of this for years. The number of people photographing them on any one day is testament to their appeal. So what to do?
The visitor brochure to the gardens doesn’t even mention the bats. Maybe the authorities need to and realise that visitors come to the gardens for more than the plants.
Entries (RSS 2.0)
