BACK TO NATURE - Feel the love for Flying Foxes

by Pam Maegdefrau

Sometime ago I read about a Witta resident distressed that there was a Flying Fox roost near their property. Curiously the day before, I had made a new friend who told me how excited she was to have Flying Foxes roosting in their area, but some neighbours were not happy. 

It gradually occurred to me; these two stories were about the same roost at Witta. And this got me wondering. How differently we can react to sharing our homes with native animals. Personally, I have enjoyed the process of ‘getting to know’ the animals we share our place with, who now accept our presence as non-threatening. 

Many Hinterland residents are attracted to this environment because of the wildlife and strive to live in harmony with them. Before we ‘Anglos’ discovered this beautiful area it was habitat and food source for many native species. 

But early pioneers were here to log the rainforests; and to set up farming, much of which failed, and native grasslands and undergrowth were removed. Many people are thankfully helping to heal these areas, planting rainforests and re-introducing endemic species. They rejoice in the knowledge their work could bring back, maybe save, precious fauna and flora, before more is lost. 

Landcare groups play an important role, propagating grasses, vines, bushes, trees. All necessary for the survival of local birds, insects, amphibians, mammals. Most locals are aware of the terrific work done by Barung Landcare and Land for Wildlife, who teach us to live more meaningfully in the place we have chosen to inhabit. 

There is a terrific little book, Landholders Guide to the Blackall Range, published by Barung Landcare, and I recommend every resident should read it.

Let’s pause a little and think about this land we now call home. 

For our Colonial settlers, everything not familiar, or understood needed to be ‘slashed, burned, shot or culled’; to be replaced with things familiar to them; that met their needs; comfortable, as if from their previous ‘culture’. 

Animals from distant homelands were brought in for food, sport, transport. Much of what was introduced quickly became feral, destroying natural ecosystems and now, costing billions of dollars each year to contain. 

Sheep and cattle quickly created ‘the economy’, but soon destroyed fragile soils, natural grasses and eventually waterways. In less than 200 years those ‘agricultural empires’ changed existing symbiotic systems that had been crafted over millions of years. 

First Nations people really did ‘know better’ how to live in this land and how to care for it, and removing First Nations peoples from their traditional lands completed the great land grab! 

Now we pay the price. Lost knowledge, degraded soils, rivers dry, fish dying, our bush burning, weeds rampant, and ferals out of control. The thinking was: tame the bush to suit our needs, which means now our unique fauna is threatened with extinction, as habitat and food sources are destroyed. 

But we can change that. Staff at Barung Landcare and Mary Cairncross Reserve are very helpful, able to expand our knowledge and explore management techniques. Neighbours may also help, with understanding the behaviour of our local inhabitants. 

Most of our native animals are nocturnal, sleeping during the day while we make all our noise; so perhaps we could give a thought to how much we impact them daily? 

Back to Witta and the Flying Foxes. Yes, they are noisy. They are communicating, feeding, but also at work; pollinating the flowers that open at night, when the bees and butterflies are not. They pollinate Eucalypts, so without Flying Foxes we would struggle to have enough food for koalas. 

Yes, they are smelly as they produce nutrients to enrich the forests they inhabit. Knowing what vegetation attracts what animals; what shrubs have food for birds; which vines support which pollinators; and so much more … are all part of this wonderful new world we have entered. Learning these things is a magical journey for me and seeing it work, a constant joy! 

By having Eucalypt and other night-blooming trees on or near your property, you are welcoming their pollinators … Flying Foxes. Was this the intention? House owners can change often perhaps without having contributed much to the well-being of a community.  

Flying Foxes are unlikely to, and should not be forced to move from what is an ideal spot, and where they contribute an essential service to forest and inhabitants. 

Let’s all strive to be in harmony with the world we choose to live in.