Happy Halloween

The association of bats with Halloween may have originated with the discovery of the vampire bat in the 17th century.

These two taxidermy specimens are Australian flying-foxes, otherwise known as fruit bats. They are mammals, and are members of the Pteropodidae family, found mostly on the eastern coast. Flying foxes are very social animals and often roost in large numbers. A cloud of dark winged creatures travelling across the evening sky is a familiar sight in Sydney when members of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ flying-fox colony venture out from their permanent camp in search of nectar, fruit and pollen in the local area.

There is more about the Australian flying-fox at the Botanic Gardens Trust

Photograph: Australian flying foxes, by Henry King. Tyrrell collection
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Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian