Broome’s Bats On the Nectar!

My wife and I divide our time between Melbourne and Broome and as bat-people find the twilight fly-out opposite Bedford Park at “bat-beach” on the Jetty-to-Jetty walking route a regular treat. We also visit the beach in the mornings and can hear the bats settling-in for the day in their mangroves home. These mega-bats, a mixed colony of 30,000 – 75,000 little red flying foxes (Ngalminyaminya) and Black flying foxes (Nimanburr), share stories of their evening`s adventures and have a noisy bat-parliament session before sleeping. If it’s baby season every female of reproductive age will have a single pup to clean and breast-feed milk. Baby is dependent on mum and, for the first month, will hang onto her belly 24/7 even when she flies out at night attached to a nipple at one end and by its large feet at the other. It’s a precarious existence and losing the nipple mid-flight often means death so when bat-pups are rescued they usually are much happier once they have a dummy and are being held. It’s quite a sight to have a half a dozen bat-bubs with their dummies in-situ, wrapped in a roll that mimics mums wings, their big eyes following you about the room keenly waiting (and often calling) for their bottle in one’s home / wildlife shelter.

Remember to look up during October-November and you may see what looks like a bomb attached beneath the large Black flying fox flying over and April-May for the Little Red flying fox – it’s a bubby bat!

The pup is fed by mum for up to five months. After a month it becomes too heavy to carry out and is left in a colony bat crèche with other pups while mum flies-out to feed. Returning in the early hours of the morning she will pick up her bub, clean and feed it before both get their heads down for a good sleep. Of course, as mentioned there will be plenty of chatting between the adults at the same time. Flying foxes are the third most vocal mammal species after humans and whales.  After an hour or three of neighbourly bat-chat and bub care you can often hear a pin drop in a camp containing up to 100,000 flying foxes.

A colony of flying foxes is an engine of biodiversity. Each bat will visit up to ten trees or more a night for their nectar, pollen and fruit. This can mean a million trees a night, every night, may be serviced by pollination or seed dispersal from a single colony. Over 100 species of native trees and plants rely, some solely, on their vital work on the night-shift. Bats comprise 20% of all mammal species.

In the words of Peter Cundall:

“Flying foxes are gardeners of the night performing a priceless environmental service” (ABC TV Gardening Australia, 2007).

The bats` landscape regeneration work has been going on for at least a million years on the Broome Peninsular and they are the most numerous mammal in Broome -apart from humans during peak visitor season! It would be good to see Nimanburr and Ngalminyaminya represented more frequently by the local artists and the shire as both are totemic/creator ancestors for 1<sup>st</sup> nations people in this region. Indeed, the Member for the Kimberly, the Hon. Divina D`Anna MLA, is a proud Yawuru, Nimanburr and Bardi woman.        

But it’s not only the big bats that make Broome interesting its little insect eating microbats are also plentiful. The Kimberley has around 22 species of microbats and Broome’s include the Great Northern Freetail one of only a few whose echolocation sonar we can actually hear. Listen for a tink-tink-tink like the sound of two coins being struck together. That’s the echolocation burst the bat uses to hunt insects including mosquitos. So, the mozzie that was on its way to give you something nasty may just be been intercepted by one of the Kimberley’s best hunter-killer microbats about the size of a USB stick. And they can really put the bugs away eating as many as 500 an hour each. Every town and city in Australia have microbat populations so bats are nearby every night keeping us, and agricultural crops and livestock, freer from bugs and pest insects.

NB: People often ask about the Covid 19 virus but the SARS CoV 2 virus that caused the pandemic has not been found in Australian Wildlife including its bats. It is perfectly safe to have bats around and visiting backyards etc.

The rule is the same with all Australian wildlife: No touch = No Risk

How can I help wildlife?

1. Don’t net backyard fruit trees. Zip washing bags over fruit you can reach and leave high fruit for flying foxes and other wildlife. Non-commercial wide aperture netting (holes over 5mm x 5mm is banned in Victoria) entangles and kills flying foxes and birds.

2.Another killer of bats and owls is invisible-at-night barbed wire. Remove any you no longer need and mark remaining wire with white gaffer or bear tape every few feet or 600mm or use anything to make the top wire visible at night (CDs, cloth, old paint, bottles).

 3. Protect bush and bat roosting sites from human disturbance. All wildlife need to be undisturbed to live, rest, and raise their off-spring.   

Broome is already a great place to visit and live. Sensitive development will ensure that what makes it special is retained and jealously protected!

Nimanburr says: “Don’t Rubbish Kimberley! Put in Bin!”

In the unlikely event you are scratched or bitten by wildlife see a medical practitioner. Wildlife in trouble? Always call Broome Wildlife Rescue 0428 860 014