A little omnivorous in Indonesia

A photograph of a male black-bearded tomb bat showing his black beard, which is black fur under his chin.
Black-bearded tomb bat (Taphozous melanopogon), male with prominent black beard (photo by Jenis Patel on WikiMedia Commons)

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. My week had a sad start because the Nature Fest in Herndon was cancelled because of the rain. It rained pretty much all week, but I think we are supposed to have a sunny weekend.

There was another earthquake in Indonesia on Friday. And then after the earthquake there was a tsunami. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to the people of Indonesia. My thoughts are with you all while you recover from these events.

I researched Indonesian bats and I found an absolutely adorable one! It is called the Black-bearded tomb bat. They have a face that reminds me of a shrew with a beard. Its face points outward and they have big round ears on top of their head. Their fur is brown with a little bit of gray and sometimes even red. The dense fur covers most of their body, but it stops before it covers their face. I think this makes their fur look slightly mane-like. The male Black-bearded tomb bats have seasonal black-ish brown beards that they grow to attract mates. Black-bearded tomb bats are found in a variety of places including Indonesia, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. They roost in rainforests, woodlands, and abandoned buildings. They roost near where they can find their favorite foods. They eat insects like many other bats, but they also enjoy munching on fruit.

If you would like to learn more about these bats, you can find information here  and here.

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