The Samoan Flying Fox (Pteropus samoensis) is a kind of nocturnal bat, found only in Samoa & Fiji. They feed primarily on fruit and have a wing span up to 3 feet. But it seems they are more often heard than seen. Last time I stayed at Lucias Lagoon in Savaii, Samoa I heard them in the distance but due to the loud music from a nearby bar I never got to record them properly. This time I stayed up late and wandered around until I found the tree they were in and then recorded until I got too tired and sleepy to continue…. I had a pretty powerful LED torch with me but would only catch glimpses of them as they flew around the top of a very tall tree….But it was the sound I was after….
photo cc credit
photo cc credit
FLYING FOXES Savaii by timprebble
Recorded with Sound Devices 722 recorder and a pair of Sennheiser MKH70 shotgun mics.
That’s a nice find Tim. The bats almost sound like they’re grinning whist making these sounds.
Cheers for posting.
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Beautiful furry-faced flying foxes! Their potential to be loved is let down a bit by their screech isn’t it?
I’m based near Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia where we see a lot of the critters – I have a recording you might like to hear at http://soundslikenoise.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/bats-afternoon-133/
Cheers.
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Tim
Were these flying or just hangin in the trees when you recorded them?
They were about 10-15m up in trees & it was about 2am…. When I pointed my torch at them it would annoy them & they would fly around a bit, but they stuck to the same trees ie they weren’t flying far….
Also, why do you say “Flying Foxes are a kind of nocturnal bat, found only in Samoa & Fiji”. We have a huge problem with them here in Australia
thanks for pointing that out – I have corrected it above, was referring to Pteropus Samoensis