The Ghost Bat, Macroderma gigas, is very
strange. This large, pale bat is a predator, but not only upon insects. Using
its large eyes and ears to locate prey, the Ghost Bat swoops down and dispatches
its victims with powerful bites, often taking prey right off the ground. It
preys upon frogs, lizards, and large insects--as well as birds, and even other
bats. Ghost Bats are found in Australia, where they are becoming increasingly
rare. With wings fully extended, they measure nearly twelve inches wide--a
fearsome ghost indeed if you are a small mouse going about your night business!
I once saw a Ghost Bat swooping over our camp in coastal eastern Queensland,
near Olsen's Caverns. I can close my eyes and picture the scene even now. The
night before Halloween, I was rolling out my sleeping bag to join my fellow
campers under the stars. Suddenly, a faint, pale shape appeared between me and
the moon, flitting above the sleeping forms of my friends, diving nearly to the
ground and then ascending out of sight. The Ghost Bat dived two or three times
over our camp, then faded silently into the black sky, leaving an indelible
memory. This is a beautiful animal, mysterious and necessary to the eeriness of
world's night skies--certainly one of the strange denizens of the universe. For
more information about the Ghost Bat, read "Foraging behavior of the Australian
Ghost Bat," Macroderma gigas, in The Australian Journal of Zoology,
Volume 33 (1985), pages 705 to 713, by C. R. Tidemann, D. M. Priddel, J. E.
Nelson, and J. D. Pettigrew--and see pages 446 and 447 in Mammals of
Australia, edited by Ronald Strahan (1995).
To find out more about bats and what you can do to help them
survive, visit Bat Conservation International by clicking on the image just above.
You can join right there on the web page, or you can call 1-800-538-BATS for
more information. I'm a member; every Halloweenie should consider helping bats
through BCI.
What would Halloween be in a world without bats?
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