Bats in Your Backyard

Living close to Spectacled Flying-fox roosts in urban areas can be challenging for residents especially during their birthing and mating season (September-April) when the noise and smells increase.

Spectacled Flying-foxes are highly social and nomadic animals. They congregate together in roosts, which they treat like hotels or drop-in centres.

Individual bats within the roosts change regularly, with each one staying for an average of nine days before moving on to a new one (unless they have large dependent young). They can use the same roost locations for over 100 years but sometimes they start new ones or stop using old ones.

They are seasonal animals so if you live near a roost, you may notice numbers increasing dramatically around September-October. This is baby bat season when they gather in large ‘maternity roosts’ to give birth and raise their pups.

By the time Easter comes around, they start dispersing into smaller groups, so the noise and smells decrease substantially from April-August.

What can residents expect?

• Maternity roosts – Between September-December (baby bat season) roost numbers at certain sites grow dramatically.
• Noisy neighbours – As pups grow, they become louder, calling constantly for their mothers. Roosts are especially noisy at dawn and dusk.
• Protective parents – Roosts are easily disturbed during this time, with adults becoming ‘flighty’ as they protect their young.
• Risks of disturbance – If startled, mothers may abandon pups, resulting in a higher risk of human or pet interactions with young that fall from trees.
• Mating season scents – Between January and March, the mating season can be noisy and smelly as males release pheromones that give roosts a strong, distinctive odour.
• Quiet time – Around Easter, flying-foxes start to disperse into smaller groups.

Living with Spectacled Flying-foxes

Tips for living with these noisy neighbours

• Move quietly near roost sites to avoid disturbances – they make more noise when disturbed.
• Keep dogs away from roost sites and keep cats inside at night.
• Keep pet food and water indoors.
• Bring your washing in at night.
• Park your cars under shelter if possible.
• Keep doors and windows closed at dawn and dusk to reduce disturbance during fly-in and fly-out.
• Remove or cover fruit and flowers on fruiting and flowering trees on your property.