Swarms of Bats Have Descended on an Australian Town

It’s like something out of a Hitchcock movie.

More than 100,000 bats, known as flying foxes, now occupy the holiday town of Batemans Bay in New South Wales, Australia.

The bats set up their colony in the town years ago, but they have multiplied over time and have now reached their highest number ever recorded.

Russell Schneider, of the local Flying Fox Task Force, told Sky News: “This is the biggest, this is unprecedented. They’ve never been seen in these numbers.”

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Local residents are exposed to a constant high-pitched screeching. The bats have also caused power outages, deterred tourists, and diminished property prices in the town, according to local news sources.

Despite the nuisance they are causing, authorities are not permitted to use any methods that might harm the animals to disperse them, owing to their official listing as a vulnerable species.

The local government has committed AUS$2.5 million (USD$1.8 million) to disperse the bats using alternative, non-lethal methods.

Some of the ideas being considered involve playing loud noises, clearing local vegetation, and blowing smoke and shining bright lights on the bats.

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