Little Red Flying Fox by bella_ss

Little Red Flying Fox

This is a sculpture in the park where the boys are up the tree. Our town has a problem with flying foxes and the parks have even been closed because of the numbers. They smell terrible and I feel very sorry for anyone that lives close-by when they are out of control. At the moment there are none in this park thankfully.

ETA: Flying Foxes are fruit bats, they feed on flowering trees and fruit such as mangoes. They can also carry a deadly disease.
A story from when we had the worst plague I have ever seen:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/charters-towers-bats-concern-residents/9239638

Thanks for putting yesterday's selfie on the PP :)
I’ve not heard of flying foxes — would not want to run into one, but do like this sculpture and your composition of it!
January 20th, 2019  
That sculpture is cool! I have also never heard of flying foxes, but judging by the way you say they smell, I dont wish to see one! LOL!! I am off to google flying foxes!
January 20th, 2019  
Great sculpture of you flying foxes. That's something new to me. I'm glad our foxes don't fly or smell, not that I've gotten close enough to smell one. We do have skunks and you can smell them for miles....
January 20th, 2019  
This looks much better than the real thing to me, well spotted and captured Sheralee:)
January 20th, 2019  
Ooh! Never heard of them. They must look a lot like bats according to this sculpture.
January 20th, 2019  
it I a great sculpture. I believe that flying foxes are also known as fruit bats. I understand they can bite and they carry infection - so certainly not ideal for a park area. I am glad you don't have any in yours.
January 20th, 2019  
Fun sculpture, especially considering the problem!
January 20th, 2019  
Great sculpture and less smelly than the real thing. Whenever we drive through Raymond Terrace about 45 km from here I live I have to hold my breath if I have to stop the car at the traffic lights. There are hundreds of flying foxes in the trees there and the smell is horrendous. There is a MacDonald's on the corner too and the combination of the smell of burgers and flying foxes is unbelievable.
January 20th, 2019  
@taffy @jenp @lesip @pcoulson @sangwann @chimfa I should have mentioned they are fruit bats, we have two different kinds, the little red (Pteropus scapulatus) and the black (Pteropus alecto) flying fox. As @helenhall has mentioned they can carry a deadly disease if bitten or scratched by an infected animal. In the last fortnight a child was scratched when one fell on him. A vet died in a nearby town a few years ago when an infected horse he treated passed the virus onto him.

A story about the worst plague we have ever seen, certainly in the 50 years I have lived here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/charters-towers-bats-concern-residents/9239638
January 20th, 2019  
@onewing Yes, they smell terrible! I can imagine it would affect the Maccas store, you certainly wouldn't want to sit outside to eat. We still have a colony in our largest park. They killed many of the huge old fig trees in that park.
January 20th, 2019  
Yikes
January 20th, 2019  
Yikes this doesn't sound nice.................but the sculpture is great!
January 21st, 2019  
What a great sculpture! I've never heard of flying foxes before!
January 21st, 2019  
cool sculpture but not a good story about the flying foxes
January 21st, 2019  
Good morning from Europe! For the get pushed challenge, please take an abstract macro picture. Have a nice week!
January 21st, 2019  
I lived in Sydney for a while, I used to get such a fright when the fruit bats landed in the trees next to our deck. I f ind t hem quite fascinating, I didn't realise they were so deadly
January 21st, 2019  
@yorkshirekiwi Most of the time they are harmless but there is the potential for disease.
January 21st, 2019  
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.