Lawrence Pope, Carlton North
After reading your ‘name and address supplied’ correspondent’s letter (Oct 2, ‘Disgusting Stench’), my first reaction was a desire to acquire the author, who, by the style of the letter, I suspect, was a male of similar age to myself – closer to seventy or eighty than sixty – and shake him and shake him. Of course I realise this is inappropriate and likely bad for us both. Therefore, following rest and recuperation, I offer the following.
It’s true that native flying fox colonies (aka `the bats`) can emit a pungent musty aroma (like wheelie-bins) that does not appeal to everyone, although dog-mess, trucks and cars, cities, garbage tips and the varying hygiene regimens of our fellow humans probably give our bats a run for their money in the stinky stakes.
My fellow author uses many derogatory phrases describing my defenceless chiropteran friends, but perhaps my favourites are invader and ‘intruder’. Wow. The irony. It’s boilerplate thick.
In 1850 Victoria had forest coverage of around eighty-eight per cent. By 1950 it was thirty-five per cent. We invaded and intruded and visited an apocalypse on this landscape and all living beings in it – thank you very much, sir.
But we cannot unscramble the egg, or can we, at least a little? We can change our attitudes a little and decide to undo some of the historical damage. Yes, even when, horror-of-horrors, we are inconvenienced a little, and they choose to live in the classiest botanic real estate in town – no dusty forest for us!
Recently I attended a two-day flying-fox forum in Bendigo that brought colony managers and experts from around the country. It injected over thirty-five thousand dollars into the local economy. Bats mean biodiversity – but they also mean business. What doesn’t? London Plane trees whose pollen/hairs had us choking and sneezing – give me a lemon-scented eucalypt any day.
We were impressed with the City of Greater Bendigo’s thoughtful, science-based, and 21st-century approach to the management of the Rosalind Park colony – a winning approach that may be replicated in Castlemaine’s botanic gardens with the advantage of fewer tree canopy-damaging Ibis!
Australia’s botanic gardens are playing a direct physical role in the survival of a listed keystone mammal species. A pollinator of over 100 species of native trees. Ordinary people or gardens rarely get the chance to play such a direct and important role.
It is to be celebrated because we know what happens when a `keystone` is lost – ask an engineer. Flying foxes are ecological engineers.
The bats occasionally roost back in the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens and are welcomed there.
It is recognised that we all must make a space for indigenous Australia. Why? Because this is, in part, what reconciliation looks like. It’s real, and it’s not just about ‘us’, our species. If we become too focused on human convenience to the neglect of unique wildlife such as the Grey-headed flying fox, and their life and death interests, we can begin to look ridiculous, selfish, and just a bit ‘stinky’.
Speaking of which, I raise baby flying foxes and care for adults. They groom constantly and are meticulously clean. The bubs smell like other baby mammals – kind of muzzy, milky, and warm. Let’s us not stink by use rejecting exclusionary language. Co-existence. Living with wildlife. This is today. What I find ‘disgusting’ are old blokes (like me) who panic when faced with a little challenge to reflect and adapt.
C’mon guys, you are better than that. I know you are.