So it looks like you made it through the weekend and are ready for another fun and exciting week of Wild Facts. Today’s animal, the Spectacled Flying Fox, is a little misleading since it isn’t actually a fox that can fly (how cool would that be though). Instead, the Spectacled Flying Fox is a bat (actually a megabat) that lives in Australia and New Guinea. It really isn’t fair how those two places have all the cool animals. The Spectacled Flying Fox is also known as the Spectacled Fruit Bat but I prefer the Flying Fox so we are going to stick with that one. Let’s learn a little more about this megabat, shall we?
I mentioned that the Spectacled Flying Fox is a megabat and for good reason since their capable of growing to a length of 25 cm (9.8″). Yes, a bat that is almost a foot long! They are typically black in colour but make a wild fashion statement with the yellow fur around their eyes. If you have a strong desire to witness these cool looking bats in their natural environment then you had better start packing for a trip to the rainforest. Yes, the Flying Fox loves to hang in the trees of the rainforest. In fact, no colony of these bats have been known to exist further than 7 km from a rainforest. You can just imagine what will happen to these animals as more and more of the rainforest is destroyed, right?
Although these bats are large, there is no reason to be frightened by them. As their other name suggests, they feed primarily on fruit they find in the diverse rainforest. Unlike other bats that we are most familiar with, the Spectacled Flying Fox does not use echolocation. Instead they rely on their keen sense of smell, excellent night vision and the cries of other Flying Foxes to find their scrumptious meal. They use these same techniques to avoid predators such as snakes, eagles and even crocodiles. Wait! How are crocodiles a predator of this bat species? Well, the Spectacled Flying Fox has been known to drink water by skimming across the top of it as they fly by. As you can imagine, a well timed lunge by a crocodile leads to a lot of trouble for a thirsty bat.
I guess that does it for the first Wild Fact of the week. Thanks for reading and I will see you tomorrow.
