Hi from Charli!
I hope you enjoyed reading about me in Spud & Charli. Bats, like all animals, are important for our environment and I loved being in a book with them. Unlike koalas, who are so cuddly and cute that everybody loves them, bats are creepy. Like me, many people make decisions about bats without knowing much about them.
When I found a dead bat in Spud’s water trough, I leapt to conclusions about Spud being infected with Hendra virus. What with the dead bat, and overhearing Mr Shearer say ‘shoot them … kill them’, my imagination really ran wild. I made some hasty decisions that could have turned out a lot worse than they did, showing me just how dangerous it can be to believe in rumours.
Before you take action in any situation, it’s important that you know the facts so that you can make an informed choice about what to do.
In this section you’ll find some interesting information that I wished I’d known at camp.
What is Hendra virus?
First identified in 1994, Hendra virus, a virus carried by Australian bats, was named after the Brisbane suburb in which the first outbreak occurred. In the past 20 years, 70 horses and four humans have died from the disease. Once infected, there is no known treatment. However, so far, 50 per cent of humans infected have survived.
It is believed that loss of habitat and natural food sources can increase stress on bat populations, which can in turn trigger the Hendra virus. While bats can carry the virus, it doesn’t make them sick. The problem starts when it’s transmitted from bats to horses.
At the moment, evidence suggests only an infected horse can transmit the virus to humans, and, at the time of writing, there is no evidence of bat to human, or human to human transmission, although horses can catch it from other horses. Government departments and scientific organisations continue to research the virus to discover how it came into being, how it is transmitted and how to treat infected horses and humans.
Lyssavirus, first identified in 1996, is another bat-borne virus that Australian bats can carry. It can be transmitted from bats to humans and from bats to horses through saliva, but it is an extremely rare virus (approximately one per cent of bats in the wild carry it), and can only be contracted through a bat bite or scratch that is left untreated.
Bats in our backyards
Many people don’t want bats living in their backyards because they are noisy and smelly, and they can spread deadly diseases like Hendra virus and Lyssavirus. As Australia’s population grows and people need more places to live, development is affecting our wildlife. The trees where animals such as koalas and bats live are being chopped down to build houses and roads, which means they come to our backyards looking for food. Fruit-eating bats love grevillea, fig and mango trees because they’re full of sweet nectar. No wonder they are moving into our suburbs!
Some people try to move the bats away with noise and other methods, which only causes more stress. Stress in bats lowers their resistance and potentially increases the risk of Hendra virus and Lyssavirus spreading.
Research has also shown that moving bat colonies rarely has much success. If the animals do move, they typically only move a very short distance: less than 500 metres from the original location. So, shifting bats out of one person’s backyard, just shifts them into somebody else’s.
What can you do?
If you have bats in your area, or own or ride horses, here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your animals from bat-borne viruses:
•Enquire at your local veterinary practice about the Hendra virus vaccine for your horse.
•Avoid contamination by ensuring feed and water dishes are away from trees where bats visit.
•Remain vigilant for any signs of sickness that suddenly appear in a previously healthy horse.
If you do find a sick or injured horse or bat or, like Charli, a dead bat, it’s important that you know what to do. Here are some steps that you can follow:
Sick or injured horses and bats
•If you’re alone or with friends call an adult or teacher to assist you.
•Do not attempt to touch or handle the sick or injured animal. Remember, injured or frightened animals are more likely to bite and scratch, so it is safer to keep clear.
•Keep your other animals away.
•Ask an adult to contact an expert trained to deal with these situations.
*For horses: seek a qualified vet who will examine the horse with suitable protective clothing and equipment.
*For bats: seek a vaccinated bat handler from your nearest wildlife organisation such as the RSPCA or Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland.
If you are bitten or scratched, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and running water for at least five minutes, and seek medical help immediately.
Dead bats
•You should always avoid direct handling of a dead bat.
•It is important to remember that even if a bat is dead, it can still pass on diseases through saliva or skin pricks.
•If you see a dead bat in your backyard or in a public area (for example in a gutter, road, school or local park), you can contact your local council or wildlife rescuers and ask that they dispose of it.
•Carers will use a shovel or wear thick gloves to pick up dead bats and put them into strong plastic bags or containers to dispose of properly. This is not something you should attempt yourself.
Interesting bat facts
Did you know that …
•Bats are the world’s only flying mammal capable of prolonged flight?
•There are over 1,000 different species of bats in the world, with approximately 100 of these found in Australia?
•There are two main bat groups: bats that eat fruits and nectar (also known as fruit bats, flying foxes or megabats) and bats that mostly eat insects (also known as microbats or insectivorous bats)?
•Microbats are vital for consuming insects that threaten our agriculture and also our health, such as mosquitoes that carry Dengue fever?
•Bats are Australia’s best long-range pollinators and seed dispersers, and without them our eucalypt forests would decline?
•More than 450 plant species can only be pollinated by bats, so they rely on bats for survival?
Useful websites
www.allaboutbats.org.au
All About Bats is my favourite website for learning about bats. It is packed full of activities, including colouring-in pages, interesting brochures, and even some classroom lessons designed to help grades 4 to 9 understand bats.
www.bats.org.au
The Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland website has loads of information about bats, tips on what to do if you find a bat, and, most importantly, who to call for assistance.
www.ehp.qld.gov.au
This website contains lots of information about many of our native animals and the environment. If you type ‘bats’ into the search box, you will find a whole heap of documents about different types of bats, and also about diseases.
www.health.qld.gov.au
Typing ‘bats and kids’ into this website will take you to a downloadable bat poster that you could put up in your school to help spread awareness about these creatures.
www.wires.org.au
WIRES or the New South Wales Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service has a great website packed with facts. If you search for ‘bats’ you will find lots of information, and emergency wildlife carer numbers to call. There are also some fun activities in the kids’ pages.
www.wildlife.org.au
The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland campaign for the survival of species and ecosystems. Their website is great for anyone who loves animals, as you can read all about different Australian mammals, birds, reptiles and so on. It features many topical articles about living with
bats and the problems bats face.
Acknowledgements
A big, batty thank you to my family – Don, Beth and Charlotte, and Mum and Dad – for putting up with ‘about my book’ once again, and to my brother Ralph for his interest and advice, even while in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Thank you to Ivy Tudor, for helping me with horse-camp titbits and offering a young person’s perspective on all things riding. Thanks to Shelley Fitzgibbons for tramping through bat colonies (and smiling), and to Petah Tudor for hearing me out when things got tough.
I’m once again grateful to Caitlin Jensen, Marci Dahlenburg and Ann Harth for reading the manuscript and giving me a kind thumbs-up every time I needed it, and to Louise Saunders and Connie Kerr from Bat Conservation and Rescue Queensland for inspiring me with their tireless work for our beautiful and vulnerable bats.
Thank you to my fabulous readers, young and old, for spurring me on by asking, ‘When’s the next book coming?’ and to the incredible team at the University of Queensland Press, who believed in me even when the story played hide-and-seek. Project Editor Kristy Bushnell was the epitome of patience in helping me mould my unwieldy concept into a decent story. Editors Karin Cox and Cathy Vallance and Senior Editor Michele Perry were invaluable in making the story shine, while Cover Designer and Illustrator Aileen Lord made it look stunning with her fabulous artwork. And, of course, to the amazing Publisher Kristina Schulz – thank you!
First published 2014 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
www.uqp.com.au
[email protected]
© Samantha Wheeler 2014
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Cover design and illustration by Aileen Lord
Cover photograph by Chris Gramly/iStock
Typeset in 13/20 pt Adobe Garamond by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
Wheeler, Samantha, author.
Spud & Charli / Samantha Wheeler.
ISBN 978 0 7022 5018 7 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5290 7 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5291 4 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5292 1 (kindle)
For primary school age.
Horses – Juvenile fiction.
Bats – Juvenile fiction.
Imagination – Juvenile fiction.
A823.4
University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable
and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests.
The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
UQP is not responsible for content found on non-UQP websites.
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