The small town located on the banks of Burnett River, 180kms inland from the Sunshine Coast, did not have a problem at all until spring 2000, when the owner of the Golden Orange Hotel, Ken Mogg noticed 50 flying foxes hanging from a fig tree.

He says within a week 50 turned into 50 000 and, in July 2011 the colony swelled to an estimated 300 000.

“People would just walk out of the hotel because of the smell, and the noise. It got to the stage where they would not stop in town,” Mr Mogg explains. He tried everything to get rid of them, including burning their faeces.

 “Nothing worked until flooding damaged trees along the river bank, and then the government allowed us to prune the remaining trees right back. After that they moved but only about one kilometre away to the local Golf Club,” he says.

 “I feel sorry for the Singleton - there is only one way to get rid of them.”