The Cairns Regional Council has expressed some annoyance at having to delay its plan to rid the town of flying foxes.

The far north Queensland council has had approval granted for its plan to trim the trees that the bats reside in, in an effort to encourage them to roost elsewhere. Now the council will have to pack away the shears for at least five months while the bats to some breeding.

The bats have entered their breeding season; with the amorous air-mammals shacking up for the perpetuation of the species, the Cairns Council says it will hold off – but is not happy.

“We're not happy with it,” said Cairns Mayor Bob Manning.

“We made applications quite some time ago and the federal bureaucrats who are handling this seemed to delay the matter for quite some time... but anyway we now have the permit and we'll get ourselves into a position where we're ready to go as soon as the birthing season is over.”

There have been various plans to rid Queensland towns of their bat populations, each with equally varying levels of success. Other shires have proposed everything from gunfire and noise-makers to creating luxury bat habitats or simply removing trees.

It will now be sometime next year before the Cairns Council tree-trimming plan takes flight.