Spillover: A Memoir

Many thanks to:

 

Dr Rebekah Day for her professionalism, skill and wonderful compassion for her patients.

Tracey Wood and Mary Garden for their advice and help, and the other gals of Penpals Writing Group for their encouragement, help, patience and great listening skills.

My sister for being so caring and for all the tears she spilled while reading the book through its development.

PREFACE

 

It didn’t taken long for the novelty of living next to a flying fox camp to wear off. The sight of them rising into the sky, en masse in silhouette at dusk, was awesome until the few hundred grew to thousands, then to tens of thousands. The evening spectacle turned ominous, a sight that every night sends shivers up my spine.

 It is eerie when the bawling of the animals ceases for a short period in the late afternoon. I imagine they are preparing their flight plans for the nightly feeding raids within a fifty-kilometre radius. During this brief time of silence, if you listen closely enough, you can hear hints of other bush sounds. It is a slice of respite, until the noise builds, the evening sky becomes filled with their dark shapes and the air is polluted with their stench.

There are times when I step outside onto the back veranda to the barrage of screeching and want to scream, ‘Shut up and go away!’ so it echoes across the paddocks and through the forest and the bats fall silent and flee, never to return. But I don’t scream out and the bats aren’t silenced and they don’t leave.

For most of us living on the neighbouring properties, the presence of the bat camp is intolerable. We find ourselves questioning the adverse affects the colony has on our health and on our quality of life and the risk it poses for our animals. Despite reassurances from authorities, concern persists about the high concentration of the bat excretions that fall on the roofs of our houses and wash into our water tanks and drinking water.

At various times, groups of interested people gather at the camp site to discuss and watch the flying foxes. In the early evening, the crowd looks up and exclaims at the spectacular sight. The bats take to the air, a few at first, circling, landing in the tops of the surrounding trees, calling, then moving off again before the remainder swarm into the painted sky. And while the crowd of onlookers can leave, we cannot.

Of course, the large camp affects only a few neighbouring properties. And what are a few? We are told the flying foxes are migratory and will move on in time. But how much time? The colony arrived about five years ago and stayed.

We are told the impact of the colony lessens the further away from the camp you are – which is a revelation – so surely we can live with them? Some say if we don’t like our neighbours, then we should move.

We are told we will become accustomed to the noise and smell, which is something I have not found. We may adapt, because we have no other choice, but it is not something to which we become accustomed.

Yet, many people are also sympathetic to our situation.

The fact flying foxes are moving into populated areas is probably the fault of the greater community. Development encroachment leading to land clearing, destruction of habitat and the depletion of natural food sources due to drought, are some of the reasons. I know and accept bats are protected as an integral part of our biodiversity, yet I also know they carry a deadly threat that I live with every day.

Articles about flying foxes sometimes appear in the media but rarely is information included about the viruses they carry and the threat they pose. Already I hear the echoes of criticism and the calls of scare mongering. However, this is a burden I thought better to release and let fly where it may, rather than let it be forgotten and dismissed, until the next death, or the next.

This is my account and recollection of the events surrounding the death of my horse, Clive, to the Hendra virus. A virus carried by flying foxes. To maintain the harmony, I have changed the names of my family, friends and those I dealt with or have simply referred to a position or a title, while others may have been omitted altogether.

 I see any unintentional errors or omissions as an opportunity for discussion, which will further enhance awareness. This is not an attempt to apportion blame or to criticise, but to increase awareness, promote research and help protect the fine balance between nature and humans.