. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. UNCOMMON PETS. A series of articles on the Care and Keep of Animals in Captivity. By P. Wellington Farmborough, , , etc. IX. FOBEIGN BATS. T I THOSE who may be in search of the uncommon in the way of pets can derive -*- an extreme amount of pleasure and interest from a study of the habits of the Exotic Chiroptera. Those who have not attempted to keep these animals as pets have very little idea of what extreme interest they are capable of giving their owner, and usually describe them as being " ; We
. Animal Life and the World of Nature; A magazine of Natural History. UNCOMMON PETS. A series of articles on the Care and Keep of Animals in Captivity. By P. Wellington Farmborough, , , etc. IX. FOBEIGN BATS. T I THOSE who may be in search of the uncommon in the way of pets can derive -*- an extreme amount of pleasure and interest from a study of the habits of the Exotic Chiroptera. Those who have not attempted to keep these animals as pets have very little idea of what extreme interest they are capable of giving their owner, and usually describe them as being " ; Well, that is as may be, but the writer, who has had a considerable number of Foreign Bats as pets during an experience of animal-keeping now extending over a period of years, can unhesitatingly state they possess an entrancing interest peculiar to themselves. Those bats possessing the greatest interest to the average pet-keeper are the frugivorous bats, or Fruit Bats, as they are popularly called. There are three species which are not uncommon in captivity, and which, according to the writer's experience, are the most easily cared for; they are the Collared Fruit Bat (Bousettus collaris), the Indian Fox Bat (Pteropus median) and the Common Short-nosed Fruit Bat {Cynopterus marginatum). There is also an Australian species of fruit bat, the Pteropus poliocephahis, but these do not seem adapted to a life in captivity, and are a much greater trouble to look after than the other mentioned varieties. These animals are almost entirely nocturnal or crepuscular in their habits, and to an unobservant individual are perhaps too quiet or inactive in the daytime to make up for their increased liveliness during the evening and early night hours. As twilight becomes apparent bats get very lively indeed, more so in fact than most other animals are during the daytime, and the "swish" and gentle rustle of their wings as they move about the cage can be heard some little distance away. Un
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