The "The Amazing Gray-Headed Flying Fox" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a story in an old "Smithsonian Magazine" titled "Going to Bat for Nature."  The story dealt with the gray-headed flying fox.  A beautiful photograph accompanied the story and showed a gray-headed flying fox with her baby in tow.  She is using her rather large eyes to navigate rather than relying on her echolocation as other species do.  The gray-headed fox is armed with a keen sense of smell as well as sharp night vision that is used for hunting at night, since they rest during the day. It is not unusual for the gray-headed fox to travel long distances while hunting for food.  They also forage for fruits and pollinating trees while hunting.  The gray-headed flying fox is the largest native bat species in Australia.  It has a wingspan up to three feet and is found only in Australia.  But, urbanization and droughts have taken a toll on the gray-headed fox.  The species is listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.  Since they are having a tougher time finding food sources, they have been seeking locations closer to people, bringing them into contact with new threats, such as mesh netting and barbed wire.  Human residents are not happy with sharing their fruit trees with the bats and local governments are trying to disperse of the bats.  To do so, smoke guns, loud noises and fireworks have been used.  To me the gray-headed flying fox is a really neat animal, but I guess I am in the minority, since I'm not the one who has to put up with the destruction that they can create.  Australia's bushfire season of 2019 to 2020 was devastating to the dying fox population having killed tens of thousands of the gray-headed foxes.  But, because they fly long distances during their nightly travels, the bats play a pivotal role in re-polinating swaths of scorched land.  Pollen sticks to their fur, and they also ingest fruits, which makes them excellent seed-spreaders.  A single flying fox can spread as many as 60,000 seeds per night.  Therefore, the flying fox has been praised by the New South Wales Government for their super-pollinating powers.  So what do you do?  One local resident called the bats "flying vermin" and complained about ther smell while others focus on how such vast bat congregations are an amazing sight and is like a local music festival.  One person said, "We've got to live with them, they are great for our ecology."  The people are beginning to realize just how precious their wildlife can be.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.      

The gray-headed flying fox holding a young one