Australia: Queensland town under siege by bat invasion

A large fruit bat colony has come to a small town in Australia, disturbing local residents.

There are now so many of the bats in the town of Ingham, Queensland state, that they outnumber the town's 4,300 residents by hundreds of thousands, news.com.au reported.

Unfortunately, the bat colony only appears to be growing. The bats create disturbing sounds and smells. Some tree branches even collapsed because of the weight of the bats sitting on tree branches. These weird animals make constant screeching sounds. Many people are worried that the bats could spread dangerous diseases.

There are various non-lethal ways that can be used to try and disperse the animals. People can try to scare them off with smoke, noise and light.

However, experts have said that the animals play an important role in the local ecosystem.

Fruit bats mostly eat fruit juice and flower nectar. They chew the fruit, then spit out the seeds, peel, and pulp. Fruit bats, like other Megachiropteran bats, use the sense of smell to find their food, fruit and/or nectar.

Read more details here:
https://www.newsweek.com/bat-tornado-small-australian-town-1486049