Someday Might Become Extinct
This 2008 image was found and cleaned for presentation and, the research was done today.
It started last week, when a gal asked me, "Are those owls, flying around here at night?"
Out behind my office, the visitor from Hawaii, caught me while on a smoke break.
There haven't been any owls, spotted by me, in the few years, I've occupied this office.
She mentioned, the critters hang from telephone wires, upside down and, I knew immediately.
She was talking about the Ryukyu Flying Fox, which is a Fruit Bat.
Scientific Name: Pteropus dasymallus
Five subspecies of this animal, exist in the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and the Philippines.
First the Fun Facts
- These bats, won't bite people. So, don't scream as, they swoop down and surprise you.
- They are nocturnal and, usually start flying as the sun is going down. During daylight hours, they hang in trees and, are fairly well camouflaged.
- Adults, with a wingspan of a meter (3 feet) make a good swooshing sound, when they flap.
- Fruit Bats, don't have radar, like others. They navigate, using their eyes and ears and fur.
- The diet of these flying foxes is mainly fruit and leaves, with an occasional insect.
Holy Bat Shitman !
Bats are categorized differently, from one country to another, based upon population size.
At one point the species was declared extinct, in Taiwan. But, somebody spotted, two.
Squirrels, feral cats, dogs, typhoons, deforestation and hunting, wipe the bats out.
Critically endangered on the Japanese Red List, these bats have been declared Natural Treasures.
The IUCN Red List has this bat listed as Vulnerable.
But, they go on to say, "Local illegal cults, operated by farmers in response to crop damage,
are a major threat, which has been ignored, so far."
In the Philippines (Not all bad people) on certain islands, the bats, have it worse.
Poachers, go after these bats because, they are considered, a delicacy !
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