5,000 Bats Fall Dead From The Trees In Australia

A suburb in New South Wales has been littered with the bodies of thousands of dead bats.

Up to 5,000 of the animals dropped from the trees in Casino, around 600km north east of Sydney on Saturday.

Temperatures had hit record highs of 44.1C, as a heatwave swept the region Byron News reported.

Photographer Dee Hartin witnessed the scenes, telling Huffington Post UK: “What I saw when I got there was beyond belief. There were hundreds of them all over the ground everywhere I looked.

“They were not only on the ground dead but hanging in the trees dead as well. I saw many young ones around three-four months old clinging to their dead mothers or hanging in the trees next to them."

5,000 Bats Fall Dead From The Trees In Australia

high temps? localised pollution? what could be the cause of this?

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

that would have happened over last weekend....i can tell you it was a hot one.......i live about 150 ks from casino heading towards the queensland border.....

i doubt very much it was pollution related unless it was pesticides or something similar......

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

Monsanto is a name that comes to mind when I hear of bees and bats dying off. I can't prove it nor have anything at the moment other than my suspicions.

a reply to: RoScoLaz4 that is so sad

originally posted by: SLAYER69
a reply to: RoScoLaz4

Monsanto is a name that comes to mind when I hear of bees and bats dying off. I can't prove it nor have anything at the moment other than my suspicions.

certainly could be a possibility.....if i had to hazard a guess though it could be the combination of severe temps and it has been incredibly dry for quite some time now in this area....this area used to be rainforest and usually gets a good 6 months of rain during the winter period but this year the rain season did not happen

originally posted by: RoScoLaz4

A suburb in New South Wales has been littered with the bodies of thousands of dead bats.

Up to 5,000 of the animals dropped from the trees in Casino, around 600km north east of Sydney on Saturday.

Temperatures had hit record highs of 44.1C, as a heatwave swept the region Byron News reported.

Photographer Dee Hartin witnessed the scenes, telling Huffington Post UK: “What I saw when I got there was beyond belief. There were hundreds of them all over the ground everywhere I looked.

“They were not only on the ground dead but hanging in the trees dead as well. I saw many young ones around three-four months old clinging to their dead mothers or hanging in the trees next to them."

5,000 Bats Fall Dead From The Trees In Australia

high temps? localised pollution? what could be the cause of this?

Again!

This happened in Australia last year during an extreme heatwave and they blamed it on the heat.

a reply to: Rezlooper
Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression that australia is no stranger to heatwaves. Is it really that much hotter than in the past?

The adults died but some babies were alive? A heat wave would kill the little ones first. A methane 'burp' out of the ground or some kind of poison would have killed everything in the immediate area.

Did they all die all of a sudden and fall out of the trees en masse, or did this happen gradually over hours, or what?

Bizarre.

I keep wondering when this is going to start happening with humans. When do the bankers start beaching themselves, or the Congresscritters start falling from their perches?

Batman is not gonna like this news. I suppose neither will dracula. Let's hope they do not team up in revenge.

Thats so sad! I don't understand why some of the babies would survive but not the mothers? I would have thought the youngest would have perished first, im so glad some of the babies were spared though.

44 is crazy hot though especially in a tree because heat rises so i can see the heat as being a valid cause.

a reply to: SLAYER69 I agree with your thoughts. If these are fruit bats that might explain why the adults died and some of the babies lived. The babies didn't get the full dose of pesticide since they are feeding from mom.

A satanic ritual off-shoot during the G20 summit ?

It's happened before - eg www.theguardian.com...

Bats are very sensitive to extreme heat, above a certain point and they just drop dead.

And yes these extremes are increasing in intensity and frequency. Not even summer yet.

Peta: Boats, not Bats! you idiot!!
Tony: did I do ummm err baddies?

a reply to: voided

Yep! I think we are in for a extra hot Summer this year!

Australians have been warned of an increase in bushfires as a super hot summer is once again predicated across the country.

Temperatures are reportedly going to soar above average over summer 2014-15, for the third year in a row and after 2013 marked the hottest year on record.

Temperatures will reportedly rise above average across Australia from October to April

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Totally not looking forward too that!

There are anecdotal stories of whole flocks of budgerigars falling out of the sky during extreme heat .Parakeets i think they are know as elsewhere . Link below doesnt actually say they fell out of the sky .44 c is kind of warm .
www.perthnow.com.au...

originally posted by: Rezlooper
This happened in Australia last year during an extreme heatwave and they blamed it on the heat.

To be honest, if mass bat deaths have happened during heat waves in the past, then this could be a plausible reason this time.

Curious as to whether all the bats died, or whether (for example) it was a fraction of the numbers roosting.

Regards

originally posted by: voided
Bats are very sensitive to extreme heat, above a certain point and they just drop dead.

And yes these extremes are increasing in intensity and frequency. Not even summer yet.

I suppose not all that surprising considering the weather here in the US. Only mid-November and we are shattering cold records in just about all 50 states, even Hawaii dropped below freezing and Buffalo, NY got 5 feet of snow. Australia seems to be experiencing the same.....only opposite.

Extreme weather should be expected as the norm now but boy is it getting EXTREME! It's becoming a brave new world.

a reply to: nrthstar wether changes might not have anything to do with it. it could be the heat carrying certain infections from place to place it would be intresting to see as a hobby scientist to see how many other people in the area have come down with the same sick like symptoms and how close to the area were they as i read in a post up there a while ago if there fruit bats it might be in the fruit or coming from the most common fruit fly