When all else fails, try the man in a flap (pesky flying foxes are hard to chase away)

[depakid]

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/07/14/flapping_man_wideweb__470x332,0.jpg

THE sign hanging yesterday in the Royal Botanic Gardens pleaded for calm: "Don't be alarmed by this inflatable man."

Its message may have worked, for hundreds of grey-headed flying foxes hanging from nearby trees seemed oblivious to the plastic arms flapping below.

Having failed to dislodge the invaders with water sprays, python droppings and even seafood paste, the gardens have now turned to a figure usually found outside used-car lots.

Powered by a diesel motor, the inflatable man was set up under one of 60 trees feared to be in grave danger from up to 20,000 bats. The waving arms scared most of them out of the almost 100-year-old tree, but many settled in neighbouring trees.

Even the executive director of the gardens trust, Tim Entwisle, was not sure it was a great idea. "It's very distracting, and for me it's a bit too noisy," he said. But he was prepared to give it a go for a few weeks. The man would be moved from tree to tree to keep the flying foxes on the move.

"Flying foxes are very intelligent," said Dr Entwisle, noting they learnt quickly when something was not a real threat.

If the flapping arms kept the bats moving, he was prepared to recruit "two or three more" for the scheme, which he called a short-term solution.

Staff had unsuccessfully tried frightening the bats away with water sprays. They had also tried hanging bags filled with "python poo" from branches and even tried smearing trees with shrimp paste, based on a theory that flying foxes hate seafood.

The trust is seeking government approval to use loudspeakers as a long-term solution. However, that plan cannot begin until May, after the breeding season.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-all-else-fails-try-the-man-in-a-flap/2008/07/14/1215887540799.html

[Mojorabbit]

1. I wonder

why the trees would be in danger from the bats.

[XemaSab]

2. Maybe the high nitrogen content of the guano?

I used to get bats in my house when I lived near Yosemite. Good times. :D

[depakid]

3. Defoliation

From the Botanical Garden's website:

Roosting damages trees by stripping leaves and growth shoots from the tree canopy. Sustained damage of this kind can kill a tree. By 1992 the number of flying foxes roosting had increased from the original 200 to 3200, considerable damage was recorded to a number of significant heritage trees.
....

By early 2007 there were 11,000 flying foxes roosting in the Royal Botanic Gardens and damage to trees is now severe and widespread in and beyond the Palm Grove. The collection of trees in the Palm Grove is of exceptional heritage significance because many of the trees and palms were collected and planted by colonial explorers and botanists.

The collection is of international significance because various trees collected worldwide are now rare in the wild due to loss of habitat. This means that there are irreplaceable trees in the collection. According to eminent botanist Prof David Mabberley, the Palm Grove is one of the great tree collections of the world. The first trees were planted in that section of the Gardens in 1828.

According to a report commissioned by the Botanic Gardens Trust in 2005, nine mature trees had died from the effects of roosting flying foxes and seven others were expected to die in the next few years. By 2007 thirteen trees have died, twenty-five are permanently damaged or likely to be permanently damaged, and a further eighteen have temporary (reversible) damage. Among these lists are trees of significant cultural, heritage and scientific value.

http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome_to_bgt/royal_botanic_gardens/garden_features/wildlife/flying_foxes
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[XemaSab]

4. Good deal

I looked at their website, but I couldn't find anything on the first few pages.

Do they intentionally defoliate the trees to protect against predators?

I know they're fructivorous, but do they eat shoots and leaves too?

A lot of birds can kill their roosting trees over time due to the high nitrogen content of their guano, so that's what my guess was based on... (When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. When all you've got is a degree in soils... :hide: )

[depakid]

6. Not really sure whether they eat the shoots and leaves (edited link above)

There's a big colony in Newcastle that roosts in a grove Morton Bay Fig trees. They don't seem to do much damage there. Could be the soil is poor enough that the extra nitrogen is useful, because the ground is just covered with pee and guano (and they are happy to cover observers, too).

The only thing I've ever seen them eat is fruit- and they're a major pain in the garden. You basically have to net your trees (and strawberry pots) because they're out in peoples' yards every night.

They're big critters, too- about the size of Ravens. Imagine the damage 11,000 ravens would do.

[Mojorabbit]

7. Thanks for the info

I am especially fond of bats.

[DCKit]

5. Have they thought about planting a few groves of "trash" trees outside the gardens...

to provide an alternative refuge? Or are these bats pretentious and attracted to rare and endangered trees only?

It's scary when the wildlife is smarter than the peoples.

[Indenturedebtor]

8. Slingshot and gumdrops? Wont kill em but it would REALLY make them want to leave

Cool bats.. can't let the undendangered kill the endangered though.