Fruitbats - The Friendly Flying Foxes!
Ranked #3,085 in Pets & Animals, #79,013 overall
Got Fruits? You Might Also Have Fruitbats! --If You Live In The Tropics, That Is!
The Flying Foxes, Foxbats, or Fruit Bats, of Asia and the Asian Pacific are the largest flying mammals (They really fly... not glide. Flying Squirrels and the Japanese Momonga --a type of flying squirrel-- glide, but don't flap wings to fly). These bats make up a single suborder, the Megachiroptera, within the bat order Chiroptera and family Pteropodidae.
Unlike most bats, the fruitbats are active during the day--and sleep at night. Since fruitbats are active during the day and twilight, they have good seeing ability with their large eyes and a good sense of smell. With only a few exceptions, fruitbats generally do not use echolocation.
Although most fruitbats tend to be comparatively large--some reaching a wing-span of up to 5ft (150cm) and weighing more than 2 pounds (about 1kg)--some of the "megabats" are small--only 2.4 inches (6cm) long.
As one of their names implies, these bats are not carnivores--they'd rather lick nectar from flowers or eat juicy tropical fruit. These bats are herbivorous.
The drawing in this module is from a 1922 biological text and, originally titled, Pteropus celaeno Herm., was recaptioned, Pteropus vampyrus Herm.
But although these bats are used in movies to represent big, creepy Vampire bats, again, these bats are docile and are herbivores--they don't eat blood or meat. (The Latin name of the pictured fruit bat is just that--just a name--has nothing to do with the pictured bats' habits.)
Fruitbats' Important Role In The Environment
The bats that eat nectar (the Nectarivores) pollinate the visited plants (such as pineapples) in a plant-bat relationship of "mutualism" called chiropterophily.
Fruitbats in Action ... Round One!
Well... if you live in an area where fruitbats live ..
Going Batty? You Can Wear A Bat, or Decorate With Bats--Either Way, It Works!
You can even use some of these images to decorate your batroom!
Fruit Bats in Fiji... Nope, They Aren't Vampire Bats--But They Always Star In Movies Playing That Part!
Well... I Don't Think Bruce Wayne Was Thinking of a Fruitbat When He Came Up With His Costume!
Incredible Edibles! (But not Incredible Editables--that's a Different Website!)
You can even see them being munched on in the media--movies and TV...
Yup. You can eat 'em.
They taste like chicken, but a little "gamey"...
On the 16th season of CBS-TV's "reality" show, "Survivor" ("Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs Favorites"), the competitors just merged "tribes" and for their celebration feast on a beautiful Palauan beach, they had fruitbat for their main course--such a delicacy! One of the contestants said that the bats tasted like "juicy rabbit"!
On the sequel movie to "Crocodile Dundee", there's a scene where some of the locals are feasting on fruitbat--they said it "needed garlic".
Then, in the movie "Kuppendorf's Tribe", starring Richard Dreyfuss and Lily Tomlin as competing anthropologists, Lily journeys to the boonies of Papua New Guinea and finds a village market where some folks are enjoying barbequed fruit bat.
Since the bats normally eat nothing but fruits and the nectar and pollen of the many tropical plants, they are generally safe to eat and their meat is sweet (and yes, sort of like chicken or duck--I've tasted them, and that's my impression.
However, perhaps one should think again before eating one. The bats were a great delicacy featured at Guam fiestas and feasts. You could even find them packaged in shrinkwrap alongside the other meats such as chicken, rabbit, duck, pork, beef at the local food markets. Then, some scientists doing research on a type neural disease that was more common on Guam than any other place in the world discovered a relationship to the fact that most of the sufferers of this disease ate tortillas made with the flour of Cycad palms. This might have been the end of the story.
But then, the researchers found that these same folks also ate fruitbats... and then they connected with the fact that the bats also eat the fruits of the cycad palms. When the researchers analyzed the bat's meat, they found high concentrations of cyanide and other toxins in its meat. Since this discovery, folks on Guam do not eat the tortillas made from cycad-fruit flour or fruitbats--even if these have been a long-standing cultural custom for centuries.
Here's a Batch of Bats You Batter Get For Yourself!
Discovery Exclusive Flying Vampire Bat
Realistic flapping action sends bat up to 50' away more...0 points
Brown Bat (Incredible Creatures)
This high-quality replica features amazingly intri more...0 points
Fruit Bat Animal Puppet (P8224)
This puppet has a 25 inch wingspan, movable mouth more...0 points
Plush Brown Bat Puppet 24"
Bat Hand Puppet. Looks real. Impressive size.0 points
Plush Wild Clingers Bat 7"
Plush fruitbat critter for the younger ones. Doesn more...0 points
Fruit Bat 31.5"
This amazing plush bat has a wing span of 31.5 inc more...0 points
Yup. They are Mammals! Not Birds! --But You'll Find Them Flying With Birds!
Bat Links....
- More To Bats' Vision Than Meets The Eye
- Certain bats (including Fruitbats!) have features to their eyes to be able to see UV reflecting flowers and fruits... helps in their ability to find food as well as to help in pollinating flowers.
Big Bats .... On the Big Screens
(Well, depending on how big your TV is!)
Most fruitbats in the movies are like actors... they don't play "themselves"... but in the Crocodile Dundee II movie, the fruitbats play themselves... as "fruitbats"... also, in the movie Krippendorf's Tribe, the fruitbats are also featured as "themselves" (as dinner, however). In the other movies, they tend to be portrayed as "giant vampire bats" or "mutant bats".... (In the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the fruitbats are portrayed as giant vampire bats.) In the animated movie Ferngully, the bats are portrayed as the gentle fruitbats they are... and in the movie Anastasia, the bat Bartok mentions his cousin "Iggy" who died from stress ... mid-mango... he's a fruitbat. See? Bats in movies. (And they don't have to involve Batman or Bella Lugosi!)
Crocodile Dundee II
At least in this movie the bats play themselves--a more...0 points
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)
The second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg In more...0 points
Krippendorf's Tribe
This outrageous comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss (MR. more...0 points
The Crocodile Hunter - Collision Course
Steve Irwin makes his big-screen debut with his mo more...0 points
Anastasia (Family Fun Edition w/Bartok the Magnificent)
A spellbinding mix of adventure, comedy, romance a more...0 points
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (Family Fun Edition)
Magic and adventure await in FernGully, a spectacu more...0 points
Don't Stay in a Cave! Hang Around and Drop a Note!
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JaguarJulie
Jun 5, 2010 @ 3:43 pm | delete
- Ah yes bats! I truly enjoy watching the old bats come out around these parts!
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websaver
Apr 11, 2009 @ 10:53 am | delete
- Great lense, I like your bat shop lol
Visit my bat social network site
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naturegirl7
Dec 5, 2008 @ 4:54 pm | delete
- Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group. Don't forget to add your lens link to the appropriate plexo and vote for it.
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Classic
Jan 5, 2008 @ 6:09 pm | delete
- Another five stars lens! Thanks for submitting your great lens to my group Nature and Environment!
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Janusz
Dec 11, 2007 @ 3:34 pm | delete
- Great Lens! bit fruity... bat I gave it a 5 :D
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by EditorDave
If you need documentation or editorial help, or assistance with financial services, please drop me a note.
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Great pictures and stories about Fruitbats or Flying Foxes!
Flying Foxes: Fruit and Blossom Bats of Australia
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 02/16/2012)
They are called "Megabats" for a reason... because they are large! (Well, at least larger than most bats.) This book is about the 13 species of Megachiropter -- the fruitbats or flying foxes -- that live in Australia!
A Kids' Book on Flying Foxes ... the Foxbats or Fruitbats!
Flying Fox Bats
Amazon Price: $24.21 (as of 02/16/2012)
This book provides beautiful illustrations (photography) and narratives about these amazing creatures. Something that will excite and interest little ones in studying some of the more strange creatures of our planet.
