Friday, January 23, 2009

Cairns Day 3 - Part 2

After our trip to the Crystal Caves, we planned our dinner around dusk so we could watch the local Flying Fox (bat) population take to the skies. We had dinner at Outback Jacks, which is just across the street from the nesting trees in downtown Cairns.



Here are the way the bats look during the days, when they are resting:


At dusk, the bats take to the skies in search of foods. These bats are somewhat different from the ones you probably learned about in school. They do not use echolocatoin (sonar) for guidance as most bats; instead, they have very sensitive sight and smell. They feed on fruit and nectar, and have a range of up to 40 miles.