Mighty Mums Rule the Roost
Bec Williams
In my line of work I spend a lot of time staring up into trees. Occasionally, what I see there might cause me to run and duck for cover.
However, if I happen to be out and about in the spring, I might just be lucky enough to observe – in my opinion – the absolute sweetest time of the year: grey-headed flying-fox baby season!
The grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), or fruit bat, often has a bad reputation amongst its urban neighbours. Sure, they can be noisy, and yes, sure, they might make a mess from time to time – who doesn’t? Yet one thing that cannot be denied is that (aside from being excellent pollinators) they are exceptional mothers. Flying-fox females are pregnant for six months of the year before giving birth to, usually, one adorable pup. This pup is born, crawls immediately to its mother’s teat (located conveniently below her armpit) nestles in and proceeds to stay there, where it will nurse and be nurtured, for the next four weeks.
Flying-foxes are extremely social animals, who thrive on this close physical contact with their mothers. While nursing, mum will continue to fly out each evening for food, carrying her pup beneath her wing! At almost 1/3 of her body weight, this is no mean feat and quite the sight to behold. Yet she does it happily, keeping that baby safe until it is old enough to graduate and join it's classmates in the crèche. What a woman!
Grey-headed flying-foxes thrive on social connections and are one of the few animals who will willingly initiate eye contact with equally-curious humans. These mums and bubs were observed at Macquarie Fields and Wolli Creek, Sydney.
Bec is a terrestrial ecologist and flying-fox camp manager with the Sutherland Shire Council.