'Just not in my backyard'

We discovered a dead Flying Fox on the side of the road today. She was below power lines so was probably electrocuted. These cute furry creatures are, to me, one of the saddest examples of our disconnection with nature.

We’ve destroyed their habitat, leaving them little option but to forage among us. Instead of being pleased that we can help conserve this threatened species, we're bothered by their noise, or concerned that they smell or may kill a tree or two. So we force them on, to who knows where, by spraying them with water, blasting them with loud noises, cutting down their homes, and even trying to scare them with a huge inflatable man.

We’re happy to conserve threatened species, just not in our own backyards. The trouble is…our backyards are spreading into their habitat.

Little Eco told me we should “fix the flying fox with sticky tape and then she can fly high high up into the sky…so the worms don’t eat her”.

I wish it were that simple.