Batter up !

No, this isn't another softball update. I'm talking real bats here, that of the two winged variety. It is fact that the Australian state of Quensland is home to more than 100 million fruit bats. Well, we got a chance to see at least half of them up close and personal. On our first day of walking the parkways of Sydney we were informed by a friendly Aussie bloke that a bat was hanging in a tree just over our heads. "That's no bat, it's a Yorkie terrier hanging by its feet". Upon further inspection we relized that the entire tree was laden with huge fruit bats, with wing spans at least 3 to 5 feet wide. If one has ever pondered what served as the creative inspiration behind Frank Baum's flying monkey men, look no further than the fruit bats (aka. megabats or flying foxes) of eastern Australia. Like all good bats they hang in trees by day and at dusk they emerge to gorge themselves on fruit and insects. And emerge they do. In tropical Cairns they would flood the sky every night at dusk. From our hotel balcony on the 7th floor one could almost reach out and grab them as they swooped above the tree tops. The pictures provided illustrate how the sky is darkened with bats every evening. The close up is a little blurry as I tried to catch a specimen in mid-flight, however the eerie bat features are quite pronounced. As we strolled along the "Esplanade" after dinner one evening we passed under a tree. At that instant a creature dropped down (probably 6 feet over our heads), spread its enormous wings, and took flight. Tere and Briana thought I was getting a bit obsessed with these flying rats until I pointed out a newspaper article citing 3 locals who were all bit by the same bat. It seems the last of the three was the athlete of the group as he cold cocked the critter with a swing of his arm. But alas, the creature was found to have a form of rabies and now all 3 blokes are undergoing a 2 year treatment of painful shots. So if you find yourself in eastern Australia, walking the streets at night, I caution you to beware. At the very least be sure to hang out with people taller than yourself.
- Paul Hassett (guest blogger)