FRUIT BATS

Talking about Fruit Bats, the common species we saw flying over Kuching years ago is the Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus). They love feeding on plant nectar usually found at the base on the inside of each flower, including that of durian flowers when in season. In the feeding process, they inadvertently feed on the pollens as well. This is nature's way of using bats as a pollinator while rewarding them with the nectar.

During my university days, one of my biology practicals was to analyse the pollen grains in the faeces (guano) of fruit bats. In the plant kingdom, pollens of each species of plants have a unique shape, size and sculptured ornamentation on the pollen coat, just like our finger-prints that tell us apart from other people. So by looking at the pollens embedded in the bat guano under the microscope, we can identify the pollens and tell what plants the bat fed on the day before or in the last couple of hours. So besides durians, fruit bats love to feed on flowers of plants like Petai (Parkia speciosa)- the green bean pods sold in markets and a favourite of Malay kampong folks, Bananas, Kapok (Ceiba pentandra)and mangrove trees like Sonneratia species. Incidentally, the floss from the pods of Kapok were used to stuff pillows and mattresses in the old days. Ah Mu had a mattress made from that Kapok and it required beating from time to time to loosen up the floss for a comfortable sleep. Unlike Dunlopillo mattress made from rubber foam, kapok floss gets compressed after a few days, especially if you are over-weight. I remember there was once a majestic Kapok Tree with beautiful buttress standing diagonally across the road from Aurora Hotel at the big round-about as you came down from Sarawak Museum/Yayasan Sarawak towards the Government Clinic. You can tell a Kapok Tree quite easily especially when it is young. Its trunk have sharp thorns and the branches are held out almost horizontally in tiers. As the tree gets older, these thorns disappear and the tiered architecture becomes less distinct.
Due to the seasonality of durians, fruit bats do not depend entirely on it for food. It has to feast on a range of plant species when one is absent. Thus the survival of fruit bats depends on the continued presence of the natural plant community and its link with durians is a fragile one. With rapid urban development, industrialisation and deforestation, that is why you do not see fruit bats streaming across the evening sky of Kuching these days. I recalled people used to hunt the fruit bats for food whenever the durian flowers were in bloom.


The few characteristics shared amongst those plants attracting bats are:
a) their flowers often smell of sour milk or milk that has gone bad. Apparently, bats just love that smell. (To each his own!)
b) the flowers open normally at dusk and last throughout the night when the bats are most active.
c) the flowers are usually held on strong branches way above or cleared of the main foliage so that the bats can reach them without any hindrance. Have you noticed that durians bear their cream-coloured flowers on their old branches without leaves (so-called ramiflory in more technical term)

Swee mentioned the curry made from durian flowers. I remember parts (possibly the anthers or stigma) of the flowers have to be removed first before they are put into the curry pot. I guess we eat mostly the petals of the flowers. Kong can verify this with Jee Chim.


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