Tuesday, May 5, 2009

#345-365 Upside Down or Inside Out

In my recent Rain Forest shot I made mention of the Flying Fox or Fruit Bat Colony that has set up house in the tree tops above and surrounding the previous photo's locale. Some of the reactions I got were a tad negative and I am afraid that is just bad press.

These are not Bats as depicted by Hollywood, they are mammals that dine almost exclusively on ripe fruits, in size they vary from about the size of large squirrels up to about the size of a small Daschund. They are called Flying Foxes cause they do resemble foxes in facial features.

They have been reported as the source of an insidious disease that is apparently Fruit Bat borne and has been transmitted to both horses and man which resulted in the deaths of a number of race horses and the horse trainer Vic Rail. But I have friends who hand feed them on a regular basis, and haven't even caught fleas from them so not being an authority, all I will say is that they are noisy, squabble amongst themselves a lot and are downright messy under their roosts, so I would wear a hat that you are willing to throw away if you venture into the colony, and oh yes wash your hands after leaving.

11 comments:

tterlyn said...

This is just freaky....
Nice of you to show us though.
Very interesting...

Anonymous said...

I see you are now trying to scare away all the would-be visitors to Australia that were being attracted by your previous posts.........

Clara said...

OMG! Ron! Bats scare me to death. Run!!!!!!

Chesney said...

Not sure I like these, but what a shot!

Anonymous said...

Yikes! A bat tree! We don't have them here in the States but I've heard about them & always thought it was Australian folklore! Thanks for setting the record straight. Great shot & love the sky!

annalarssonphotography said...

OMG!! Now I'm scared...
But what a shot, like Tammy says :)

Rachel said...

Terrific shot for the theme!

Candyce said...

ugghhh I didn't see them at first- I don't like bats!

mljrbg said...

They sure look like bats to me!! Yuck!! Nice photograph though.

Anonymous said...

Now it's clear just how you've been spying on me and Tammy.... Cool shot Ron, too bad you tipped your hand here.

Anonymous said...

I admire bats, these are amazing. I think of them sleeping in caves or at least in sheltered dark spots. Very cool shot.