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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about flying foxes. Fly over that sub button for more facts on awesome animals, and thank you to Charlie Kate Official for today’s request! Flying fox is a weird common name because it could apply to a couple distinct groups of fruit bats, or just fruit bats in general. Also it just sounds like an unrelated animal... To keep things simple, we’re discussing the entire family flying foxes who are also known as fruit bats, and who used to be known as megabats, but who can also be called Old World bats. This is getting batty.

There are just under 200 species of bats in Pteropodidae family. They are all found in tropical areas from western African to Northern Australia and most places in between. Flying foxes live in mostly in forested habitats, but can also be seen in open areas. Instead of the iconic roosting in caves performed by other bats, flying foxes typically roost in trees! They’re actually quite adept at climbing trees, though they’re a bit clumsy on the ground.

When they need to drink water, flying foxes will either lick rainwater from their fur or swoop over water and scoop up a mouthful. They’re mostly nocturnal like other bat species, but some flying foxes are more active during the day! Even the nocturnal ones don’t sleep through the whole day; they’ll groom and chit chat between bouts of sleep during their roosting period.

Jungles and forests can be densely packed and might seem better suited to smaller animals, but flying foxes are the largest living bats in the world! The biggest flying foxes can have five foot (1.5 meters) wingspans and weigh more than two pounds (0.9 kilograms). Still, they’re not all massive. Smaller species may be less than six ounces (170 grams) in weight and have less than six inch (15 centimeter) wingspans.

Aside from a handful of random species and one group of flying foxes who can perform rudimentary echolocation using tongue clicks, members of this bat family do not use echolocation. Instead, they depend on scent and sight to find food. Flying foxes have huge eyes, and most also have a claw on the end of their second finger that they can move around if needed. This, along with their big ol’ eyeballs can help them locate and obtain food in the form of fruit, flowers, nectar, pollen, leaves, and, occasionally, though not frequently, insects.

Flying foxes themselves are in danger of predators such as birds of prey, rats, and snakes as well as human made obstacles. Barbed wire fences and electric lines are detrimental to the lives of flying foxes. Even wind turbines, objects most people see as providing clean, green energy, can harm bat populations - there’s always a give and take with every choice we make. Because of their diets, flying foxes are fantastic seed dispersers and pollinators; they are pivotal to maintaining the health of the forests in which they live, so they’re important to have around!

Typically male flying foxes will have a harem of females he oversees and protects from other males. Mating typically occurs in the morning, and female flying foxes may reject a male’s advances. When a male does want to get a female’s attention, he may flap his wings to spread pheromones or show off parts of his body specifically outfitted for display purposes. Flying foxes gestate for at least four months, and births are usually aligned with rainy seasons when plants are flourishing.

A baby flying fox will cling to its mother for its first few weeks of life. Once it’s too big to carry, they baby will remain in the roost and build up its wing strength. It will be at least three months before it can live independently, though even after reaching independence it may stick with its mother for more than a year. Some species of flying foxes can live to be forty-five years old!

For more facts on flying foxes, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.