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Re: fruitbats (wasRe: Butterflies)

From:Yahya Abdal-Aziz <yahya@...>
Date:Thursday, November 10, 2005, 6:15
On Wed, 9 Nov 2005, Roger Mills wrote:
> > Rodlox wrote: > > >From: Yann Kiraly <yann_kiraly@...> > > > > > >What exactley is a fruitbat? Is it an especialy big bat or does it > > >specialise on fruit? > > > > yes to both. > > > > they're also known as Flying Foxes (though they aren't related to > > foxes...aside from both being mammals) > > Right-- they are quite large, at least like a very big housecat with
wings;
> they have a very dog-like (well, fox-like) face,
I'd call them bat-like ... :-)
> ... with a longish snout, dark > brownish fur.....at least the ones I saw in Indonesia. They seem very > social, hang around in treetops, and make a dreadful racket.
The Royal Botanic gardens in Melbourne, Australia, where I live, has a problem with fruitbats. They have colonised many of the taller trees, including some rare exotic palms that are over a hundred years old. Many attempts have been made to dislodge them, or reduce their numbers, but since they are endemic, there has been great reluctance to cull them. One of the earlier attempts was to relocate them - but they just flew back! I've seen a few also in the Fitzroy Gardens, another of central Melbourne's lovely and extensive parks, but never in great numbers. They are most active, it seems, around twilight, which in these latitudes lasts for about an hour in summer, shorter in winter. Yes, they make a "dreadful racket" when they're squabbling over a preferred roosting spot, or a choice piece of fruit. In flight, they usually only utter a few contact calls; as they fly in to roost, the sound of many thousand leathery wings beating is probably more prominent than their vocalisations.
> ... The ones I saw > were in the daytime and seemed quite active, but I don't know whether > they're also nocturnal, like real bats.
They're real bats, and they're mostly diurnal. The possums that come to raid our plum tree are almost exclusively nocturnal. When someone in Australia uses the word 'bat', nine times out of ten they mean a 'fruit-bat'. They are by far the most conspicuous of our bats. Regards, Yahya -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/164 - Release Date: 9/11/05