Creature Feature: Large Flying Fox.

Well, Halloween is fast approaching. So too is the freaky Theme Week starting on Halloween. You all have waited very patiently for it, so prepare for a horror the likes of which you have never seen before! *Insert evil laugh here.*

Until then, we have a classic fixture in Halloween decor: A giant bat.

This is NOT a sparklebat.

 

This particular bat, a Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus), is the largest bat in the world. It is also called the Malaysian Flying Fox, Greater Flying Fox, or Kalang. It is native to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. There are many species of flying foxes, but they all have a few things in common: They have almost doglike faces, cannot echolocate, are usually threatened, and can scare the excrement out of small children.



Don't let the "vampyrus" in its name fool you- these bats do not suck blood and are definitely not vampires in disguise. Megabats like the flying fox feed on nectar and fruit. The bats serve as pollinators in their native habitat, meaning that the giant bats have the same ecological function as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. One of those things is not like the others, but hey, whatever works.

The Large Flying Fox is, well, large. Although it weighs only 3 pounds, that's a lot for a bat. It also has a wingspan of up to 6 feet. They eat in groups of up to 50 individuals and are very noisy; put together an image of 50 giant bats all in the same place for some real Halloween material!

From Superstock! :D

 

Due to much of its habitat being in danger, the Greater Flying Fox is considered near-threatened. Farmers may kill them, seeing them as crop pests. There's another reason for this bat's sudden decline in population, but, well...let's save that for next week.

Creature Feature: Hammerhead Bat.

Let me tell you about a creature called the Jersey Devil. It is a cryptid with the head of a horse, leathery wings, and equine hooves. True to its name, the creature has its origin in Leeds Point, New Jersey. It has supposedly been haunting the area for 260 years.

A more complete description from here:

"It was about three feet and half high, with a head like a collie dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It didn't use the front legs at all while we were watching. My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the window and say, 'Shoo', and it turned around barked at me, and flew away."

Now, look at this creature:

His name is Hypsignathus monstrosus, the hammer-headed fruit bat. When science is calling you a monster, you know you're weird. Only the males have the namesake heads, but damn if they do not look like the Jersey Devil's little brothers!

Hammer-heads are big enough bats to warrant a cryptid legend. A male hammer-head's wingspan can be up to 970 millimeters. That's almost a meter, which is a little more than a yard (3 feet) in U.S. terms. It is the largest bat in Africa.

For those of you who do not know sh*t about bats (or about bat sh*t, which can be used as fertilizer), the largest bats are always fruit-eaters. The hammer-head, however, has been known to prey on small animals. This is rare, but not unheard of.

That skull could've fooled me. A bite from that looks nasty!

Like the prairie chickens mentioned in a previous entry, hammer-headed bats are often cited as an example of lek mating. Males vocalize and flap their wings in order to attract a female. They are highly polygamous; only 6-8% of hammer-headed males may contribute to a hammer-head population.

Pimp life.

Although it's unlikely that the Jersey Devil is really just an escaped fruit bat, the visual similarities are uncanny. Might there not have been an escaped fruit bat that someone thought was a demon baby (similar to escaped wild cats from private collections)? Granted, the creature would not have lived long; New Jersey is a very different environment from Africa. It's still an interesting idea.