Fruit Bat by binux, on Flickr
It’s Halloweenmonth aka October which means that Anti-Caturday has been replaced by Baturday! First up we have megabats aka fruit bats. Although megabats (as you can propably guess from their names) contain the largest members of all batspecies, to everyone’s great disappointment they are unlikely to turn into vampires since they eat only fruit and nectar. In fact, they have a mutually beneficial relationship wit certain plants, in that they pollinate or otherwise spread the seeds further than they would get by other means. This is called chiropterophily or, literally translated, bat love. Mmmmmm sweet, sweet bat-lovin’.
The most interesting thing about megabats, especially during Halloweenmonth, is the fact that they act as disease carriers for a number of diseases that are massively lethal to humans. Fruit bats especially have been known to carry Ebola without any symptoms of their own. The Marburg virus was found in Egyptian fruit bats. So maybe they can turn into vampires after all…
Redcliffe Fruit Bat Colony-06= by Sheba_Also, on Flickr
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