Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

I don’t know whether the bushfire smoke is getting to me, or whether I’m just going a bit batty, or maybe both.  Either way, I sure don’t feel well.  Depending on the way the wind is blowing, my True Love and I will nip outside for a breath of fetid air.  On one of our brief walks, we saw a tiny colony of flying foxes (fruit bats) with what looked like several babies clinging to them.  Flying foxes have been having a tough time of it over the last few years.  They have been dying in their thousands from heat stress during increasingly frequent heatwaves.  I can relate.  I think I might drop off my perch too if I don’t get air-conditioning.  Seriously though, it is a real problem.

Two species have been recorded in Canberra — the grey-headed flying fox and the little red flying fox.  The grey-headed flying fox is listed as threatened.  We snapped a few photos of the noisy little colony, but the quality of our photos wasn’t brilliant, so I thought I would share with you a few photos that we took of another colony in 2010.

Don’t these beauties look like baubles on a Christmas tree?

Christmas bauble

Talk about cute.

flying fox

Fly, my pretty, fly.

ff2

Speaking of the bushfire and climate emergencies, I can think of someone whose truancy problem is way of out of hand.  He may even be criminally insane.  That man needs therapy.  Aussies, you know of whom I’m speaking.  Cue song.

Don’t call me crazy, call me mad.

I need a drink.  I’m melting.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

 

 

27 thoughts on “Gone Batty”

  3. I hope things get better over there soon. X
    Thinking of music about Bush fires. Have you ever heard of the film Always? Starts Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter I think. The song I’m thinking of is Unchained melody, with the line ‘smoke gets in your eyes’. X

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  5. Stunning photos, Tracy.
    I feel for you. One can get warm in winter, but so difficult to stay cool.
    The “truancy” made worse by explanation “I don’t hold a hose …”. Whatever happened to offering one’s hand in comfort.

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    1. Thank you, Dawn. Not much chance of staying cool at the moment, but summer can’t last forever.

      For someone who prone to putting her foot in her mouth, the hose comment even surprised me. I’m not sure his hand of comfort would get a good reception at the moment, but he is the PM so he has to pull up his big boy pants and make an effort.

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  6. Nothing like a “leader” with their finger on the nation’s pulse eh?

    Is there any chance of some cooler temperatures around you Tracy? I empathise, and it doesn’t get nearly as hot here (yet).

    I’d never heard The Avalanches, so thanks for that.

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    1. People didn’t elect Bill Shorten so I guess they elected the PM’s party. That should be some comfort to the PM and his voters, and the voters of NSW for that matter. What a parlous state of affairs IMO.

      Doesn’t look like there will be a cool change for a while.

      My DJ (aka TL) recommended the song. He is a strange and multi-talented man, but I like him.

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  8. Hi Tracy if the bats did not draw me in, the Avalanches did. I live in Tassie, (did live inCanberra for eight years, Howrah, Turner, I loved it. Too hot for me now though. You have been having some scorchers. It is absolutely horrendous about the flying foxes, add to that all the displaced wild life, and the injured. The fire fighters are mindblowing. No respect for the one you talk off. I did not vote for HIM. One of my friends used to be a zoo keeper, and she worked in the animal nursery for a while, (she went on to study micro bats ). She hand rared several micro bats and fruit bats. I was not keen on them until one day a very special flying fox baby she was raising. She was wearing him on her jumper(Batty was his name) and I did not realise it was a live bat hanging there, I thought it was a bit of jewellery. That is until he woke and stretched his wings. His incredible soft stunnning wings. He had a tiny wee dummy in his mouth, and he was sucking on it for all he was worth. My friend fed him, and I got to have a hold of him for a little while. such a soulful look in his eyes, and his fur oh my .Love. I have them fly in my house occasionally poor things my dogs go crazy. barking at them. I hope you get some cooler weather soon and much need ed rain. sorry long comment..

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    1. Hello Tazzie. Welcome. I love those noisy bat critters, hungry little beasts though they are. They do a great job fertilising the rain forests. Such an important keystone species. My fig tree often takes a hit in summer but I’m happy to share with all the creatures that visit it. How gorgeous are those little micro bats? We often see them flitting around the street lights, but we’ve never had them in our house. Talk about bats in the belfry! 🙂 🙂

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      1. Lol I definitely have bats in my belfry. I do not object though. I lived in Sydney when I was younger and there are flying foxes that fly from the botanical gardens over the harbour bridge and I guess to peoples fruit trees. I can remember when friends and I would go out waiting for the ferry home, we would watch them begin to return from their hunt. lol indicates the time we were leaving the city. I love the rainforests,not great with tropical though as humidity is not my friend. It is always good to share with nature. as long as you get a good amount too.

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  9. One of my all time fave songs. I carry a sadness for the flora and fauna that is so cast aside, it has no health plan or insurance. The man needs therapy for sure! Love those bats.

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    1. We visited the small colony we know of a few days after our 44c day. They were still there and chatty. They had chosen a very shady grove and could descend down the tree to keep cool. It was also next to a lake so I suspect that some evaporative cooling was available. However, not all bats have that luxury.

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