Flying Fox Bat
A Quick Guide To The Amazing Flying Fox Bat
The flying fox bat is a strict vegetarian, or should I say that he eats only fruit. He is of the order of megabats, and his looks are definitely worthy of his name. There are many subspecies of the flying fox bat, and he can be found on nearly every continent. In Australia, for example, there are at least five types who frequent the hedges and bush in search of figs and eucalyptus leaves. These include the little red flying fox, the spectacled flying fox, the black flying fox, and the gray headed one as well. These amazing little bats are an immense help to the environment, pollinating trees and fruit seed for miles and miles around. These bats can fly up to twenty-five miles from their nesting sites, which is good news for the bush and the forests which they frequent.
There has been some concern, and therefore some documentation, regarding major damages to certain stands of fruit trees. The flying fox bat is responsible for this damage, but science and the ecological experts are trying to find out how and why. The most sensible explanation seems to point toward the drought seasons, when times are hard on the inland territories and the flying fox bat is forced to frequent, and ravage, those trees which are still giving fruit. Survival depends greatly on the availability of food, and the flying fox bat is not afraid to find it, wherever it may be hiding.
A banding effort has been made, in which a choice few of these beautiful bats were captured, examined, and then banded on both the left and the right toe. Some were banded with plastic, and the others were banded with metal. The purpose of these bands is to track and record the movements, migratory patterns, and eating habits of these bats in order to gain a better overall impression of the phenomenon which occurs during droughts and perceived famine.
The flying bat will converge as a unit at the beginning of each day, when the nightly hunt is finished. These gatherings can include up to three hundred thousand bats, and these favored meeting grounds may be used every day for years on end. The flying fox bat of Australia, the largest one, will light on the walls of ocean cliffs in these numbers, hanging in wait for their next big adventure. They will move, fly, and even feed during the day time hours, but this usually occurs during the early morning, if he has stayed out too late, or in the late evening if he has decided that he just can’t wait any longer. The flying fox bat enjoys strong numbers overall, and continues to be a relatively harmless pollinator.