Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's bats, man

by Matthew Martin matthew.martin@dailypost.co.nz
Rotorua taxi driver Ngaia Monahan is adamant she's not going batty.

Two blokes she picked up in her taxi claiming to have been attacked by bats in central Rotorua also swear what they saw in an inner-city tree were bats, not birds.

Local conservation and council officials are skeptical but aren't ruling out the possibility bats have taken up residence in the central city.

The two "bat attack" victims admit they weren't exactly sober at 3am on Sunday after a night on the town but Rotorua's Chris Harris says it was a bat, not a bird, that landed on his friend's shoulder as they walked beneath a tree at the Amohau St end of Amohia St.

"It took a bit to get it off, I was laughing so hard.

"I wouldn't say it was an attack, more of a surprise.

"I have spent a bit of time in the bush and have seen native bats, these were definitely bats."

Ms Monahan, after picking them up, checked it out for herself and is also adamant there were bats in the tree.

"We saw hundreds of them, they were definitely not birds."



The bats flew between trees and swooped over her taxi, she said.

When the men first got into her cab and told her what happened she didn't believe them until one of them showed her marks on his arm where he said he was bitten.

"Afterwards a work colleague and I went back and watched them for about two hours. I am sure they were bats, I was only a few metres away from them," Ms Monahan said.

Council city services manager Dennis Olliver said he knew of bats in the district but suspected what the men saw were starlings. However, he speculated there "could have been a rogue squadron of bats" disturbed by the fireworks at the Lakeside Concert Saturday night.

"I could not say that they were wrong without me going out there to have a look myself," Mr Olliver said.

Rotorua Department of Conservation community relations adviser Steve Brightwell said he knew of no bats in the central city - the closest being about 20km out of town - and suspected what was seen were starlings.

"We would be extremely skeptical of them being bats, but won't rule it out completely."

He said the department would not be launching an investigation.

Serious Shooters owner Dave Mingins, whose shop is near the trees on Amohia St, also believes the "bats" were actually starlings.

"There are feathers outside my shop every morning, I could make a duvet out of them.

New Zealand has two, protected, species of bats, both of which prefer living in large, old forests.

They are not known to have a taste for human flesh.

The nearest vampire bats are in South America.