I said: “Get rid of the bats in the Batemans Bay Water Garden - you’ve stopped the boats, now stop the bats.”

Mr Billson and many others got a laugh out of that, but for the people living near the camp of grey-headed flying foxes at the Water Garden, it’s no joke.

The bats, which number in their thousands, are making life a misery for these residents.

The stench from the animals’ scent glands and guano is suffocating.

People can’t open their windows and doors, and are too embarrassed to have friends visit.

Houses, cars, back verandas and even solar panels are getting bombarded with guano, and people can’t sell their properties because no one wants to live in the middle of a bat cave.  

The screeching and squeaking of the bats are causing major stress.

There seems no idea of what could solve the problem or any real will to solve it.

We, in Batemans Bay, have been dealing with the flying foxes for the past few years, but Indigenous Australians have been living with them for thousands of years, so it would be wise to ask them how they would approach the matter.

Eurobodalla Aboriginal Advisory Committee member Roderick Slockee believes “fire farming”, which was successfully used for thousands of years by Indigenous people, could make the bats move on.

A controlled burn at the water garden would remove their food source, and “no food, no bats”.

It wouldn’t be easy, but I believe it is worth a shot.

The bats themselves are endearing creatures, looking like a possum with wings. If this camp was a couple of kilometres out of town, it would be a great tourist attraction.

The problem is, it is literally in people’s back yards. 

A polar bear is a cool animal (pun unintended), but if you came home and found one in your yard, your feelings would be mixed, at best.

The promo line for the last Batman movie was “A fire will rise”.

We need to take a literal approach to this.   

Josh Gidney.