Thursday, November 15, 2007

Everything Wild 4... (officially freaked out)



I got to work yesterday and was telling one of my co-workers about the really big spiders I saw on the way to work. He is from Canada and although somewhat new to Australia, he has seen more than I have.

"Have you seen the bats"? He asked me.

"What Bats"? I croaked.

He started to explain to me that the park I walk through every night on my way home has a huge tree that is crawling with Spectacled Flying Fox Bats.

"So, those crows I see flying around at night are not crows, but bats?!?!?" I stammered...

"Nope, they're bats"...

So, last night I am out on the deck and as these things fly by I notice the silhouette and sure enough, they are huge bats. I am thinking they are about the size of a moderately proportioned house cat but with wings and claws and fangs, all of it. The creepy thing is that if they detect you, they will make a pass at you.

NowI got the hee-bee-jee-bee's from big really big, carnivorous spiders, then I have to worry about flying house cats...

It's just getting better all the time...


Actually if you see them close up, they are kind of cute little guys... I tried to get a picture of one last night but with a digital camera and in the dark it is proving to be tricky. One of the guys here has a blog with video of the tree in the park at dusk, you can check it out here...

http://thedickinsons.blogspot.com/2007/04/australian-bats.html

4 comments:

aunt linda said...

RAID must be a 4-letter word. Ohhhh those spiders!

I do like those bats though. Cute little faces and a nice niche for them in the environment polinizing or whatever. I had heard of "flying foxes" now I know what they are and more importantly - where they are - at Nick's place!
A. Linda

aunt linda said...

Who taught Aunt Linda to spell?
Sorry about the polinizing. Pollenizing - I mean.

Gina Kadlec said...

Hey, maybe you can collect bat guano for extra money on the weekends?

Shirley G said...

Nicko, you're a "green" person! Bats and spiders are our friends!