Flying Fox Wars

[bunyip]

Do any of you live in an area that's adversely affected by flying foxes, as I do?

Are you absolutely sick of these smelly, noisy, destructive, disgusting pests?

Are you sick of the pathetic people who have influenced the government to introduce laws making it illegal to cull flying foxes, or even move them on when they become a nuisance or a health risk?

 

[nioka]

Do any of you live in an area that's adversely affected by flying foxes, as I do?

Are you absolutely sick of these smelly, noisy, destructive, disgusting pests?

Are you sick of the pathetic people who have influenced the government to introduce laws making it illegal to cull flying foxes, or even move them on when they become a nuisance or a health risk?

YES, YES and YES.

I blame noah... He should never have let them aboard the Ark. I'm a believer that you can change the enviroment without ruining the enviroment and flying foxes would be a good starting point.

Although,

It is not necessary to get rid of them. Just allow some culling and allow disturbing them when they are a nuisance and give them the message to move on.

This year is the worst I have seen them. They have completely destroyed all my fruit. 100 bananas (plants) despite the fruit being covered with bags. All the stone fruit,all the tropical fruit and even the citrus including lemons are gone. They never left a mango despite efforts to bag individual fruit, ther chew up the bags. They are so thick flying over at times they even foul the swimming pool. They carry the deadly Hendra virus too.

AND there are people that actually like them. (I'll bet they dont live near them).

 

[Julia]

I also hate them. Quite apart from their astonishing capacity to destroy fruit crops and drop their filthy excrement (which is very hard to remove) everywhere, they are carriers of disease.

There's a very expensively constructed children's playground in my local area which has been closed for the last six months because the flying foxes have decided to inhabit it. There are 600,000 of them. The flying fox fans won't hear of a cull and the Council meekly submit to this nonsensical insistence.

 

[Calliope]

It's hardly a war. Fruit bats rule. They should be classified as vermin, along with the do-gooders who nurture the injured ones.

 

[GumbyLearner]

Are fruit bats considered 'native species' under federal flora & fauna legislation?

 

[Dowdy]

they should get rid of duck hunting and replace it with bat hunting.

Have the rangers move the bats away from the city to a remote place where you can kill them all

 

[Buckfont]

It's hardly a war. Fruit bats rule. They should be classified as vermin, along with the do-gooders who nurture the injured ones.

Too right! I see thousands of them each evening across the valley here at Nth Avoca, thousands and thousands. And Gosford council had the audacity to put a warm and fuzzy leaflet on them in the letterbox telling us they are protected.
Lord help us!

I have heard of folk having to move out or shut up their houses because of the smell. Yes the do gooders would do well to camp out under a tree and see how long they`d last.

I`d put pelicans, sea gulls, bush turkeys and possums in the same boat. They are all out of control.

 

[Happy]

It gets me upset too.

Flying foxes, all sort of parrots, sharks, crocodiles and the list is getting longer.
People try to live here too, and as far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter that they were first here.

Safety, protection of crops and health issues should have precedent.

Suppose one day there will be party that will promise to get rid of all overpopulations and I’ll definitely vote for them.
As to people I’ll vote to control numbers too, just give me a candidate!

 

[Buckfont]

It gets me upset too.

Flying foxes, all sort of parrots, sharks, crocodiles and the list is getting longer.
People try to live here too, and as far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter that they were first here.

Safety, protection of crops and health issues should have precedent.

Suppose one day there will be party that will promise to get rid of all overpopulations and I’ll definitely vote for them.
As to people I’ll vote to control numbers too, just give me a candidate!

I`m with you Happy the little mongrels.

How does the P.O.U.C.C.H. Party sound?

Piss Off Unwanted Creatures Causing Havoc.

I try to live a simple life here growing veges, bananas, macadamias amongst others and I tell you its a battle. But the hard part is those farmers growing produce for a living, for your, mine and the stupid `lets protect every living creature` people that rely on those very farmers for their food source.

And they wonder why the cost of production rises when the farmers are forced to spend millions protecting their livelihood.

If supermarkets didn`t exist and we all had to rely on the land, well guess what, those that proffer the animal protectionism would soon learn to change their tune, because I`m yet to meet anyone who, in times of severe desperation would not use some sort of force to aid their continual survival.

I just don`t understand why some have this deep need to protect every creature.

Life dies, new life gets discovered and things move on. and that`s the way it works. How simple is that?

 

[Calliope]

I`d put pelicans, sea gulls, bush turkeys and possums in the same boat. They are all out of control.

The ones that annoy me most are those who have decided to take up residence in town because they get easy pickings. These include crows, ibises and brush tailed possums. Forget all that crap about us taking over their habitat. We have no shortage of bush.

I've seen plenty of road kill on country roads and not a carrion crow in sight. They are all in town hanging around McDonalds and the schools.

By the way, fruit bats are considered a delicacy in India. If we were smart we could set up a canned fruit bat export industry. I believe that in NZ (where introduced Australian possums are in plague proportions) they did at one time export canned possum to China under the name of "Kiwi Bear"'

 

[IFocus]

As to people I’ll vote to control numbers too, just give me a candidate!

1st sensible comment in the whole thread

If its so bad there come to Perth WA everyone else has, no fear of floods hasn't rained since November, searing heat............oh sorry all you princesses would not cope LOL

Why don't you go and join the WAWKEIEEFC

"Whinge and Whine Kill Everything Its Everyone Else's Fault Club"

 

[Bloveld]

Not bothering me here in Perth.
So I say protect them.
They are only bothering a small unimportant part of the population.
You know, the hayseeds, rednecks, bumpkins and yokels.

And if you blockheads hadnt killed all the snakes an eagles, you wouldnt have a problem.

 

[nioka]

Not bothering me here in Perth.
So I say protect them.
They are only bothering a small unimportant part of the population.
You know, the hayseeds, rednecks, bumpkins and yokels.

And if you blockheads hadnt killed all the snakes an eagles, you wouldnt have a problem.

A blockhead statement if ever I have seen one. It makes me think that they are NOT bothering a small unimportant part of the population. Surely there are some in the west that are not that far behind the times.

 

[moXJO]

You think it's bad here....
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/swiss-vote-on-lawyers-for-animals/story-e6frfku0-1225837982273

ALREADY boasting laws to protect goldfish from being flushed down the toilet and to guarantee companions for lonely animals, Switzerland held a vote on whether abused animals deserve lawyers.

 

[Calliope]

A blockhead statement if ever I have seen one. It makes me think that they are NOT bothering a small unimportant part of the population. Surely there are some in the west that are not that far behind the times.

Yes these pests are not "bothering" animal rights nutters, who live in a dream world of their own. I notice that Bloveld apparently enjoys torturing fish.

 

[chops_a_must]

Why don't you go and join the WAWKEIEEFC

"Whinge and Whine Kill Everything Its Everyone Else's Fault Club"

I believe everyone already has, it's called the WA Liberal Party.

Not bothering me here in Perth.
So I say protect them.
They are only bothering a small unimportant part of the population.
You know, the hayseeds, rednecks, bumpkins and yokels.

And if you blockheads hadnt killed all the snakes an eagles, you wouldnt have a problem.

Exactly.

Animals will only thrive in an environment if you have let them. Culls wont do much unless you address the reason for them being a plague in the first place.

Personally, I enjoyed very much just standing in the pool, watching these bats swoop into backyards and scaring and annoying the absolute **** out of the neighbourhood dogs this wet season.

 

[ChilliBlue]

I don't know if this is of any interest, but father has a way of keeping them at bay at his winery.

He has rigged up some sensor lights (I am talking blinding lights) and that seems to have worked.

It took them a while to get used to them coming on and off with mum coming to my place for a few days - but as dad said, double advantage.

 

[Bloveld]

Yes these pests are not "bothering" animal rights nutters, who live in a dream world of their own. I notice that Bloveld apparently enjoys torturing fish.

I dont enjoy torturing fish. I dont enjoy bashing them in the head. I even dont enjoy eating them.


Its all for scientific research.

 

[bunyip]

I`m with you Happy the little mongrels.

How does the P.O.U.C.C.H. Party sound?

Piss Off Unwanted Creatures Causing Havoc.

I try to live a simple life here growing veges, bananas, macadamias amongst others and I tell you its a battle. But the hard part is those farmers growing produce for a living, for your, mine and the stupid `lets protect every living creature` people that rely on those very farmers for their food source.

And they wonder why the cost of production rises when the farmers are forced to spend millions protecting their livelihood.

If supermarkets didn`t exist and we all had to rely on the land, well guess what, those that proffer the animal protectionism would soon learn to change their tune, because I`m yet to meet anyone who, in times of severe desperation would not use some sort of force to aid their continual survival.

I just don`t understand why some have this deep need to protect every creature.

Life dies, new life gets discovered and things move on. and that`s the way it works. How simple is that?

Ahhh - but their apparent deep need to protect every creature is very superficial and is quickly forgotten when they themselves start getting troubled by pests.
These twits who say 'protect flying foxes' - there's not a single one of them who would tolerate pests invading their homes or threatening their livelihoods or their health. Flies, mozzies, fleas, mice, cockroaches, would all be reason enough for these people to bring out the poison baits or the insect spray or call a pest extermination company.
What's so different then, about flying foxes that makes them worth protecting? They're vermin, just like cockroaches and mice are vermin.
Nobody - not even the most dyed in the wool animal protectionist, would say we shouldn't control mice or cockroaches if they're in plague proportions. Yet when flying foxes reach plague proportions and start causing havoc by destroying crops, invading school yards in their hundreds of thousands, taking over public parks and kids playgrounds, and spreading disease, these animal libber types go all soft and fuzzy in the mind and apparently lose the ability to think rationally.

I like animals and nature - I have no wish to see the extermination of all flying foxes, crocs, dangerous sharks and snakes etc. But it's pure unadulterated stupidity to say that humans should never cull flying foxes that are in plague numbers and are destroying trees and crops, making recreation areas unusable, and posing serious health risks via the deadly Hendra virus.

 

[Buckfont]

Ahhh - but their apparent deep need to protect every creature is very superficial and is quickly forgotten when they themselves start getting troubled by pests.
These twits who say 'protect flying foxes' - there's not a single one of them who would tolerate pests invading their homes or threatening their livelihoods or their health. Flies, mozzies, fleas, mice, cockroaches, would all be reason enough for these people to bring out the poison baits or the insect spray or call a pest extermination company.
What's so different then, about flying foxes that makes them worth protecting? They're vermin, just like cockroaches and mice are vermin.
Nobody - not even the most dyed in the wool animal protectionist, would say we shouldn't control mice or cockroaches if they're in plague proportions. Yet when flying foxes reach plague proportions and start causing havoc by destroying crops, invading school yards in their hundreds of thousands, taking over public parks and kids playgrounds, and spreading disease, these animal libber types go all soft and fuzzy in the mind and apparently lose the ability to think rationally.

I like animals and nature - I have no wish to see the extermination of all flying foxes, crocs, dangerous sharks and snakes etc. But it's pure unadulterated stupidity to say that humans should never cull flying foxes that are in plague numbers and are destroying trees and crops, making recreation areas unusable, and posing serious health risks via the deadly Hendra virus.

Thanks bunyip for reinforcing the sentiments that I hold about this subject that is fundamentally to do with ECONOMICS! not cuddly creatures.

You just have to go west of Sydney to see the extent of the netting farmers have to use to protect their livelihood from the marauding apple eaters.

And yes again I`d really like to know how those that purport animal liberation would go if, when push comes to shove, they have to grow their own leafy greens, fruit and vegetables for the wellbeing of themselves and their families, cause I`ll bet they would change their tune.

Primary producers are our life blood.

By the way the Asians seem not to have this attitude and see what they eat all sorts of things bats probably included.!