The sound hits you before the smell, which comes shortly, along with the arresting site of thousands of Grey-headed Flying Foxes in flight over the Macintryre River at Yetman.
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“There they go. All day,” Yetman resident Iris Barry said, as the sky outside her back veranda blackened with a massive wave of the animals flying in sudden consternation.
“And it just drives us crazy. Literally.”
People don’t realise it’s not just a few bats flying around. It’s a total disruption of our way of life.
- Iris Barry
The Grey-headed Flying Fox is listed as vulnerable under the NSW, and this colony of the protected species has historically roosted along Yetman’s riverbank.
They return for several weeks each year, but this time, their stay has almost doubled, and they show no signs of moving on.
Iris and John Barry have lived in their home on the riverbank for about 11 years, and run the caravan park next door. The Barrys anticipate the animals’ arrival, usually timed with the Mulberry season and their departure, after about a five to six-week stay.
Now the family watch as the foxes hang an arm’s length from their back veranda when they come into roost each dawn, and take roost on the power lines outside their home in the mornings.
“They trip the power something chronic,” Iris said, twisting the top off a bottle of water. She explained they drink and cook with the bottled water as the foxes roost over the house.
“We put in new rainwater tanks – we can’t drink our rainwater,” she said.
Caravan park visitors now abbreviate their stays to a day or two, due to the cacophony and the foxes defecating on their roofs and pegged-out laundry.
Iris said a visitor recently left, feeling unwell and intending to visit her GP.
“People don’t realise it’s not just a few bats flying around. It’s a total disruption of our way of life,” Iris said.
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has a referral guideline for management of the species, investigated by Inverell Shire Council environmental compliance co-ordinator Phil Sutton earlier this year.
Iris said Phil arrived the day they thought the foxes were actually leaving.
“Four days later, they were back,” she grimaced.
Inverell council general manager Paul Henry said the matter has not been dismissed by council.
“It’s been revisited to be assessed and council informed of the present situation,” Mr Henry said.
The OEH said in a statement the office “works with councils to implement the NSW Flying Fox Camp Management Policy”.
“This Policy aims to help councils and other land managers where flying-fox camps are in close proximity to urban settlements and causing anxiety through noise, odour or health impacts,” a spokesperson for the OEH said.
The spokesperson said a $1 million Flying-Foxes Grants Program is funded through OEH and administered by Local Government NSW to address identified flying-fox management issues facing NSW councils.
“In the situation at Yetman, OEH encourages the council to seek funds under Stream 2 of the Program to prepare a flying-fox camp management plan,” the spokesperson said.
“The maximum grant funding is up to $15,000, and councils are required to commit matching funds, which can include cash and in-kind contributions.”
They added the OEH is able to provide advice and guidance to the council on preparing the management plan.