Mike's Australia by Mike Dixon - HTML preview

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25 Flying Foxes

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Okay!  They're not foxes.  They're bats but not ordinary bats.  They have a wingspan of more than 70cm (over 2ft) and their main food is fruit.  There was a colony in the mangrove swamps near our hostel.

Their constant screeching formed a distant background noise and we got used to it.  Then, one day, it was eerily quiet.

We investigated and found the bats had gone.  They had relocated to a patch of eucalypts beside our favourite pub and were making a nuisance of themselves.  The beer garden was once a place for a quiet chat.  After the bats arrived, you had to yell to make yourself heard.

My book on native animals describes bats as nocturnal.  That means they are meant to sleep during the day and most do.  They wrap their wings about their bodies and hang upside down like seedpods.  But there are exceptions to this simple rule.

As in all societies, it's the delinquents that cause problems.  They are forever flying off and picking fights.  Just look at that vicious character in the photograph.  He's trying to dislodge an innocent sleeper from her perch.

And it's not just the noise that's disturbing.  The creature's toilet habits are a major cause for concern.  It's not their fault that they're overcome by an uncontrollable urge to defecate upon take-off but it does cause serious problems for a pub with a car park below their flight path.

Bat poo contains all the essential ingredients of paint stripper.  The slimy green ooze not only smells foul, it cuts into the paintwork of your car.  People stopped using the pub's car park and that affected business.

Fortunately, it was not all bad news for the pub's owners.  They lost a few regulars but gained others.  The tour buses started coming.  The best time was late evening when the bats were preparing to fly off for a bite to eat.

Thousands circled overhead before leaving.  The buses disgorged their passengers.  Eyes turned skywards to observe the amazing phenomenon.  The bats left and the people headed for the pub's bistro.