An Aussie driving with their windows down learned the hard way that the common practice may be ill-advised after an “unlucky” encounter on the road landed them in hospital.
The Queenslander was driving on the Gold Coast when they claimed a fruit bat inadvertently flew through their window and bit the person on the finger, before flying out. The incident has prompted a warning from wildlife authorities who told Yahoo News Australia drivers should be “mindful” of the presence of bats and other species feeding on nectar from native trees lining roads.
“Be careful driving with your windows down, bats are around,” the Aussie shared online about their horror experience. “They seem to be flying low, so keep ya windows up at night and be safe.”
Rhiannon Traish-Walker, President of Bats QLD, confirmed to Yahoo the rescue centre gets a lot of calls about car strikes in the area of Robina where the incident occurred.
“There are a lot of flowering trees along the roadside and when bats get spooked they have a tendency to fly out and hit into cars. Unfortunately in this instance, the bat has gone into the car. It’s pretty unlucky for the person,” Traish-Walker told Yahoo.
Because flying foxes rest upside down, they create a U-shape when they fly away which makes them prone to run-ins with cars. Source: BatsQld
Deadly threat bats can pose to humans
The bat flying into the car would have been “chaos” and the bat reacted in the “only way it knew how” by biting the driver. Less than 1% of bats in Australia carry a disease known as lyssavirus and anyone bitten by a fruit bat is urged to seek medical attention immediately. Once symptoms develop, there is no treatment available
There is no available treatment for rabies or ABLV once symptoms have started and according to NSW Health, the illness progresses rapidly to paralysis, delirium, convulsions and death, usually within a week or two.
The Aussie bitten in her car “did the right thing” by going straight to the hospital for a vaccination according to Traish-Walker.
“There is a small but real chance that they can have lyssavirus,” she said adding it is a “silent disease until you develop symptoms” and after that, it’s “too late”.
“It’s a simple case of if you’re bitten, go to hospital to get those vaccinations. We have a simple rule of no touch, no risk,” she added.
Bats ‘taking risks’ to access food
Traish-Walker explained at this time of year, bats are taking greater risks than usual to feed their offspring.
“There will be more mouths to feed at this time of year and a bit more risk-taking to get to food sources,” she explained. “They’ll start going lower for food that they normally wouldn’t dare to.”
She said that if anyone finds a bat on the ground ring Bats QLD or their local bat rescue, adding that cars pose a “big threat” to bats.
“Councils plant flowering trees right next to the roads and bats go for them and unfortunately because of the way they fly, they have to do a U-shape to get that upward trajectory so they are more likely to be hit by cars.”
She added that while bats are often “accident prone”, they are “nice and friendly” despite the incident.
Why are flying foxes so important in Australia?
Flying foxes are sadly now declining in numbers and threatened with extinction.
Climate change and habitat loss because of development are key threats to their demise. Without them, the nation’s old-growth forests will decline because flying foxes are Australia’s only long-range pollinators. Unlike most birds which are territorial, flying foxes can travel up to 50km to feed, spreading the genetic diversity of flowering plants as they feed on them.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.