BATS RULE ROOST
WOMAN BIT TEN B Y FLYING F OX TICK , LICE
A WOMAN has been bitten by a tick and lice from Charters Towers’ bat plague with no solution to the problem in sight.
Residents have been put under siege by a colony of about 200,000 flying foxes roosting in the town.
Anne Wiltshire, 70, said she was bitten by a tick while raking leaves in her yard and now is suffering from lice bites to her arm ( left). Her doctor blamed bats which roost across from her home in Lissner Park.
Traeger MP Robbie Katter wants a cull to solve the problem, however the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection said killing the bats was “not a viable option”.
A CSIRO scientist said he had no solution for Towers residents.
AN ELDERLY woman has fallen victim to the flying fox colony that is plaguing Charters Towers, with the resident claiming she was bitten by a tick and is now suffering with lice.
Annie Wiltshire has lived across from Lissner Park for 15 years, however the 70- year- old said she was considering moving because she had never seen the park so “disgustingly bad”.
The health hazard recently forced the closure of many public areas, with families now too scared to take children outside during the school holidays. A rally was held along Gill St on Saturday where residents demanded help from the State Government.
The State Government has rejected calls for a cull of the bats.
Ms Wiltshire said she was raking mango leaves in her backyard last week when she was bitten by a tick.
“Of any afternoon I rake up the leaves and burn them in a 44 gallon drum under my mango trees up the back,” she said.
“I thought something just stung me so I come down to the house and put my glasses on and I had a look at it and saw two little tiny pieces sticking out in my right arm.”
Ms Wiltshire said her doctor had studied the tick and thought it was from a bat.
“I’ve got to wait for the biopsy to come back but now I’ve got bat lice,” she said.
“I got a rash, it was a raised- up lump on my left arm. “I’m not sick or anything. “I just seem to be getting a cold. Whether that’s part of it I don’t know.”
The woman said she had asked the Charters Towers Regional Council to cut down her mango trees because she could not afford it on a pension.
“Everybody is complaining they can’t hang their washing out. I have to put mine under the carport,” she said. “I had to just close all of my louvres and shut the doors otherwise you can’t live here.”
A Department of Environment and Heritage Protection spokeswoman said the little red flying foxes could travel long distances to follow flowering plants.
“Unfortunately Charters Towers appears to be experiencing a combination of these events,” she said.
“Killing flying foxes is not a viable option. Besides the dangers of firearms in town, the animals are likely to be replaced by other flying foxes arriving from elsewhere.”
Traeger MP Robbie Katter said he had recently parked his car in front of a local pub – not under a tree – and later found it covered in droppings.
“Presumably that’s falling on the town every night,” he said.
“It’s a crisis issue. The only thing you can do practically is a cull.”
Mr Katter said the bats were living in artificial environments.
“I’m not sure even someone getting sick would be catalyst for action.”