52/52 Painting Challenge Week # 16
The Year of the Bat
Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus) Mindy Lighthipe © 2012
This is the final painting that I did from my Bat Photo Day at the Lubee Bat Conservancy. I really enjoyed seeing all the different bats that they have there. One of my main concerns as an artist is educating the general public about the interconnection of all living things. Bats have been given a bad name as being blood sucking and evil. Bats are a necessary part of our planet. Here are some facts about bats that you might not have known.
- They are the only mammals that fly.
- They are major pollinators of plants.
- Fruit eating bats play a leading role in seed dispersal.
- 145 genera of plants depend solely on bats for pollination and seed dispersal.
- 134 plants that yield products used by humans are entirely or partially reliant upon bats for seed dispersal or pollination.
- There are 173 different species of fruit bats found in tropical and subtropical areas of the old world.
- A group of bats is called a "camp".
- Fruit bats are often the only mammals on oceanic islands.
- Flying foxes belong to a group of mammals called Chiroptera, which means hand-wing. A bats wing is its hand.
- 2011-2012 is the Year of the Bat.
I am arranging to have fineart archival prints made of my bat paintings in an effort to help support the Lubee Bat Conservancy. If you are interested in owning a set of these prints please feel free to contact me.
Aha! Another foxy face. These paintings really have been a joy to see. Bats are so magical and although we only have the really tiny ones here in Britain, they are lovely to see. We are lucky enough to have them occasionally flying through our garden looking for food, (don't know what species they are). A great cause.
I am glad you enjoyed the paintings Jarnie. We have lots of native bats here, but they are also small. The bats I painted are all from Australia and Malaysia. They are in a conservancy and are huge. They really do look like flying foxes. Some of them have a wing span of 6 ft!
We have the flying foxes every night in Summer come for the flowering and fruiting native trees. They are majestic and it is wondrous to watch the sky turn black as they emerge from there sleeping places and take to the evening sky. Even better was when I had a microbat take up home in my house for a short while – they are so cute!
Hi Sue,
How exciting to have flying foxes in your area. We have the small brown bat which can fit into the palm of your hand. Thousands of them fly out at night. They roost in big bat houses at the University of Florida and every night people gather to watch them. Flying foxes would be soooo incredible. I really enjoyed being up close and personal with them inside the cages. They were so full of personality and it was funny how they interacted upside down. It was like little kids at the playground on a jungle gym!
Thanks for Sharing.
Mindy