Madang Bat Lovers Rejoice
Bat lovers, a small portion of the Madang population, are rejoicing about the return of our beloved blek bokis. That’s the Tok Pisin term for the flying fox fruit bats that inhabit the area by the tens of thousands. The literal translation is “black box”.
A couple of weeks ago, they all disappeared mysteriously overnight causing much consternation and near panic.
Now they are slowly coming back. Here is the Redscar roost:
I’d guess that there are about half as many bats there now as there were before they went wherever they went. Here’s a close up of the top of the roost:
It is a bit difficult to get close enough to really show what these unusual creatures look like. This is about the best I have managed so far:
If you click to enlarge, you will see that the head is shaped like a dog’s head and they have a beautiful golden-orange fur around their neck. Their wings are black as coal and shiny.
Since I do not live under a roosting tree, I am happy to see them returning to our town.
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[...] Flying Foxes were returning from their nightly feast in the bush to their roosts in the trees around Madang Town. I caught this lonely one just as he was flying overhead: [...]