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When I arrived home in January, Stretch visited and found this Bat hanging-out on one of my uncompleted inner walls - judging from the droppings on the ground it had been roosting(?) there for a few days.
When I was a kid, someone told me to be careful of Bats because they can get tangled-up in my hair - I know now that this is probably an Old Wives Tale but, because of this and together with the Vampire associations of folklore, I've generally given them a miss.
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I often see Bats flying at dusk but, this was the first time I've been able to get close up and personal with one.
I have no idea what species it is but was surprised by it's beautiful markings - I've always thought of Bats as being pitch-black.
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It didn't seem to mind my presence - I'm sure that I could have reached out and touched it but was afraid of disturbing it.
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What a strange looking face it has hey?
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It hung-out on my wall for a few more days and then, one morning, it was gone. I hope that it just relocated to another spot and hadn't become the prey of some other creature.
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I'm not a fan of bats, lol. But you sure did get some great photos of one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny - I forgot to mention that this one was about as big as an adult hand ...
ReplyDeleteI like it when you size things with the size of hands.
ReplyDeleteThe bat is beautiful, the brown is shiny and healthy. During my high school days we lived with bats. I cannot remember the smell of the droppings but I would certainly recognize it, I feel.
The ears looked like its eyes.
We have lots of bats in France and I took a whole lot of photos of one that landed on our balcony. It was before I started blogging and the photos seem to have vanished but they must be on a disc saved somewhere but.... This will be my last comment for a bit as off to France on Saturday. Not sure how long it will be before I get my internet connection, my phone call to France did not sound over promising. I may have to make many more calls when I get there!! Hope I am back on line before you disappear again LOL. Diane
ReplyDeleteThanks Fazlisa - I looked at bats on Wikipedia and they truly are remarkable creatures .. I shall investigate more ...
ReplyDelete... yes, their droppings seem to smell of ammonia, I've smelt it in caves ...
Thank You for all your comments and support Diane - I appreciate them as I feel you can relate ...
ReplyDeleteI wish you a safe journey home and a quick re-connection of your internet ...
Great photos as usual. Looks like an insectivorous bat.
ReplyDeleteThanks Calvin - yes, it probably is insectivorous, though I believe we also get fruit-eating bats here too ...
ReplyDeleteSuperb photos of the bat! One of my favourite visits is the "Bat Cave" at Chester Zoo, England where they have day/night reversal and one wanders through a large space with the bats free-flying. They are so agile, flying between legs without the person even being aware.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave - the Bat Cave sounds interesting - I wonder how they feed them, if they release live flying insects for the bats to catch ...
ReplyDeleteGraham, most of the bats seem to be fruit feeding, either from fresh fruit on convenient hooks or nectar feeders; will check next time!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave - It'll be interesting to know ...
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed your photos. Research indicates something in the bat's saliva may hold a cure for certain types of cancer. Love bats!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I spent a lovely holiday near Walvis Bay The drive to Windhoek is magical. It was Christmas day, and the ladies had their long dresses on.
My apologies for not saying I dropped in from Inger's blog
ReplyDelete(Canyon Living.)
Thanks for your visit and comment Kitty - I must admit that I've only really started taking an interest in bats since photographing this one ... interesting about the cancer cure ...
ReplyDeleteNice to meet someone who's visited Namibia - I hope you have plans to return someday ...
... my apologies for miss-spelling your name Kittie
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of bats here but I've never seen one still like that. What a great photo-op for you and you certainly took advantage of it. Great photos.--Inger
ReplyDeleteI like bats because some (don't know about yours) eat mosquitoes and that is a great service. Nice pictures. Because of the droppings I would have removed it even before it decided to go.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw thousands of bats was in a cave in Bali.They looked a bit intimidating for me tho they just hung there. Great close -ups.
ReplyDeleteThanks Inger - yes, it was an unusual photo op which has kindled an interest in me ...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I didn't think about the mosquito angle Lisleman - now I like bats even more ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Keats - I can imagine that it must be quite intimidating having thousands of the creatures staring down at you ...
ReplyDeleteI wouldn´t close my eyes if he is inside my own room, hey.
ReplyDeleteI admit it, I think they are going to suck my blood hahahaha.
Greetings! Nice to come here to share the snaps, so good!
Hehe ... thanks Oswaldo ... yes, a few years ago I would have been afraid too ...
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, this is Hipposideros vittatus (formerly H. commersoni), one of the largest insectivorous bats in Africa
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit and comment Jake - and also your identification of this beautiful creature ...
DeleteThis is jakethecake again, under a different name ;-)
ReplyDeleteWould you add this bat photo as a citizen-science observation to the AfriBats project on iNaturalist (http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/afribats)? AfriBats will use your observations to better understand bat distributions and help protect bats in Africa.
If you decide to share your observation with our project, please locate your picture on the map as precisely as possible to maximise the scientific value of your records.
Many thanks!