Trivia question for Oct-29-2011

Trivia photo property of Steve Amesbury and was taken at the Tolga Bat Hospital in Qld where he was a volunteer and administrator of the “Don’t Shoot Bats“ website.

Carter and Olivia were guest speakers earlier today down in Gainesville FL at the Lubee Bat Conservancy’s 7th Annual Bat Festival and they both had a great time.  The folks at the center do a great job taking care of over 200 Fruit Bats from around the world and we learned so much being there the last couple of days.  Carter’s trivia today is about one of the fruit bat species in particular.  Lets see if you can figure it out.  Like many other megabats, these guys have been known to drink ocean water on the way to the forests to feed, sustaining flight and keeping thirst down. Since they drink by skimming the water they are often caught by crocodiles. They also have to be careful of other predators like the carpet python and the white-breasted sea-eagle.

Their favorite roosting locations are in the canopies of trees in rainforests, such as mangroves, eucalyptus, or paperbark while in the sun, and colonies can number in the hundreds. They prefer to stay close to these locations as they offer abundant sources of food, shelter, and places to roost at night. This species of bat is listed as a threatened species in the CEPBCA act of 1999 in Australia, and are considered vulnerable because of a decline in numbers from habitat loss, however as a worldwide species the IUCN lists them as being of least concern due to population distribution and stability. This means that although the populations in Queensland are in danger, the species as a whole is not going to go extinct in the near or median future.

So here are Carter’s questions: Tell us what type of bat this is and what you call a group of these flying fox? Also, the introduced tobacco plant houses a particular insect that attach themselves to the bats when they feed on the flowers and paralyze them. Tell us what this insect is?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Martha Nguyen from Queensland Australia for being the first with the correct answer. The cool looking bat we featured is actually Spectacled Flying Fox. This native Australian bat got its name from the light colored fur around its eyes resembling glasses. It can be found living in the tops of trees in the northeastern parts of Queensland. It has also been seen in New Guinea and small islands close by.

Kuri

Tyrant

A group of these bats flying around is refereed to as a Flock, large congregations of them are called Colonies. These bats have been added to the threatened species list in 2002. One of the factors of its decline in population is the introduced tobacco plant that houses ticks that attach themselves to the bats when they feed on the flowers and paralyze them. There are efforts being done to save the bats that have been bitten by giving them medication and taking care of their babies until they can be reunited and sent back into the wild. Here is more on these unique looking flying fox’s: Spectacled Flying Fox.  Olivia and Carter loved the bats so much that they both decided to adopt one.  Carter adopted Tyrant which is a Little Golden Mantled Flying Fox and Olivia adopted Kuri which is the Spectacled Flying Fox we featured.  If your interested in helping out by adopting one of the cute little guys, please go to the Lubee Bat Conservancy Adoption page and pick your favorite bat today… you will be glad you did.

Thanks for playing along 😉