Fruit Bats (Flying Foxes): Know What is Important

Know What is Important

Flying Foxes (Pteropdidae) have large eyes, oval ears, and excellent memories. These large Bats differ greatly from their smaller insect-eating Cousins. Instead of using echolocation, Flying Foxes use their excellent sight and hearing to find fruit. They roost outside in the sun instead of in caves.

Once a suitable roosting area is found, Flying Foxes mass in the tens of thousands. These semi-permanent spots or camps may hold as many as one million Bats. At night, they leave their camps to search for flowers and tasty fruit.

What people notice the most about Flying Foxes is their screeching. Their mixture of screeches and cackles is their bat language. Flying Foxes “squabble” to establish roosting sites, ward off rivals, talk to their Pups, and warn others. (They, also, watch the body language of each other as well.)

Because They roost in orchards, Flying Foxes are coming into conflict with people. Australian farmers see Them as pests since They cause damage to the fruit trees. These Mammals are becoming endangered by human encroachment on their habitats. Since Flying Foxes are important pollinators like Bees, people must learn to protect and live with Them.

The peoples of Australia and Asia see Flying Foxes as being strong and good. These Bats feed on the fruit and flowers of the rainforests, making the land fertile. Samoans call Flying Fox, manu lagi, "Animal of the Heavens." Flying Foxes may be noisy and shrill but they pollinate the islands spreading goodness. Flying Fox Family teaches what is important.

Wisdom of the Fruit Bat (Flying Fox) Family:
 Living in Large Groups
Recognize Your Gifts
Know Your Importance
Fertility
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Science Notes:
Australian government authorities warn people not to handle fruit bats since they carry Australian Bat Lyssavirus. These bats are under protection in Australia.

Flying Foxes look like foxes but they are not. Scientists have placed these fruit bats in the Bat Family, but they are still deliberating the exact relationship between the ‘micro‘ or smaller bats and flying foxes.

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Copyright: Virginia Carper, Animal Teachers, 2008
For insights into your animal teachers, contact me at animalteachers @ gmail.com