This
is a Bat Spat
My original understanding of the relevant feeding strategy for Megabats,
was that certain food such as leaves, soft juicy fruit, and fibrous fruits is
masticated with saliva, the tongue presses the food mass against the modified
ridged palate, to squeeze out the juices for ingestion, and then the fibrous
residue is discarded. This is well described in the literature i.e. The
Australian Museum Complete Book of Australian Mammals.
I have since become informed that the fibrous residue is often discarded
as a pellet, described by one writer [referring to African megabats] as a
"rejecta pellet", and by other authors as a "spat". I
accept that the term "spat" is a good descriptive term for what I
described as a Bat Splat in my discussion paper ("What don't you understand about snorting horses,Mr Vet?", see page on this blog), and more importantly, from the
point of view of Hendra Virus Transmission, a spat does not necessarily splat
when discarded by a FF, but may stay integrated as a pellet. The Photo at the
top of the page is such a spat. It was taken under my Acerola Cherry, a shrub
that is around 3 metres high. It is the only spat I have seen. Because it is
such a spiky shrub I do not believe it is normally a favoured feed source for
Megabats since they cannot easily fly into and out of this shrub without
risking damage to their wing membrane. The Flying fox that produced this spat
was not leaving this unusually juicy food source without a second mouthful!
Locally, the leaves of the tree Albizzea
lebbecki are reported as regularly consumed by megabats, producing spats that are found
near, as well as at a distance from the trees.
Much needs to be learned about Megabat food preferences and in what circumstances,
and with what frequency, food that produces spats are consumed. It is already
known that the food preferences widen when there is a lack of reliable pollen
and nectar sources. A Megabat is more likely to be under nutritional stress
when producing a "novel food source" spat than when producing a spat
from a frequently consumed food, and these spats are therefore more likely to carry Hendra Virus!.
