“They’re not a threat to me because we’ve picked all of our cherries,” he said.

“But there’s still a lot of cherries on the trees, there could be as many as 50 hectares of cherry trees to be picked.

“It’s been a bad enough year already without this.”

Mr Gaeta said he’d lost around 40 per cent of his cherries as a result of the rain and hail.

However, Orange councillor Reg Kidd said there was no need for orchardists to be alarmed at this stage.

Cr Kidd said he’d observed a colony of around 100 bats at a property on the outskirts of Orange and their numbers seemed to be remaining stagnant.

“They’re confined to one major tree, with a few scattered in neighbouring trees,” Cr Kidd said.

Cr Kidd said he was monitoring the flying fox numbers on a daily basis.

According to Cr Kidd, as soon as he discovered the bats had returned to the area he informed a number of relevant organisations and individuals including Orange City Council, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Farmers and member for Orange Andrew Gee. 

“I haven’t heard any feedback from anyone to date,” Cr Kidd said.

He said the owners of the property where the bats were found wanted to remain anonymous.

tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au