Meet the grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus). They’re megabats and the most important of Australia’s 4 sorts of fruit bats. They’re cute and interesting however significantly endangered. There’s a colony not too removed from the place I reside, and each night time, I hear them overhead. I lately went to go to their colony to study extra about them and to {photograph} them.
Habitat
They reside alongside the Southeast coast from central Queensland within the North to Melbourne within the South. In Victoria (the place I’m), their survival is precarious, principally resulting from deforestation. Because the bats lose their meals supply, the timber additionally lose top-of-the-line and most essential pollinators. With out these bats, many Australian indigenous vegetation and different animal species wouldn’t survive. Their favourite meals is the nectar and pollen of Australian eucalyptus, banksias, melaleucas and rainforest fruit. They pollinate and disperse seeds to over 100 species of native timber.
The flying fox
The flying fox navigates by eyesight, scent and sound, not echolocation like common bats. Their senses are so sharp {that a} mom can all the time discover her child among the many hundreds of different bats within the colony. Flying straight again to them after an evening’s feed. They’re pregnant for six months then give start to a single child round October.
The younger will cling to their mom’s fur for the primary few weeks and be suckled till round 5 months previous. Younger bats will begin to fly brief distances after simply three months. They head out with the colony as soon as they’re round a yr previous.
Do you know?
- Flying foxes can see higher than people and their night time imaginative and prescient is nearly as good as cats.
- Bats hold by their ft because it’s extra power environment friendly.
- Bats are the one mammals able to sustained flight.
- Flying foxes are literally very clear, wholesome animals that groom continually.
- Flying foxes can reside as much as fifteen years within the wild.
Like to assist?
In case you’re an area, you possibly can plant native native timber and shrubs. Preserve cats inside at night time, and solely use wildlife-friendly nets in your fruit timber. If you need to study extra, go to www.parks.vic.gove.au.
I used my Tamron 70-300mm lens to seize all of those photographs. They’re noisy, sadly just a little smelly, fairly inquisitive and tremendous cute. A good friend referred to as them flying sky-puppies and it has caught! We spent a beautiful afternoon watching them. We had hoped to seize some photos of them skimming the water within the warmth of the day, however sadly not this journey.
