Do You Aussies And Asians Deal With Fruit Bats?

[Fiddler]

Here in America, us fruit growers often have problems with creatures like raccoons, squirrels, and some birds. I've seen TV nature show video of fruit bats in foreign lands and it makes my skin crawl. Seeing as how they fly in huge flocks and operate at night, they seem to me like the ultimate fruit-grower's nightmare.
     How do you people deal with these creatures? Do they cause much damage?

[ben mango]

Without them there would be less durian as the blooms open at night and the bats pollinate them

[bangkok]

In the city og Bangkok there still are many birds and squarrels around my house. They never stole a fruit untill last month when the mango's are ripe. Other years they never touched them while i see the squarrels in the garden every day.

There must be a plant that they really hate or can't stand. I would treat some fruits with something and make sure they steal those fruits, not the other ones.

I like the squarrels and birds so i don't want to harm them. Fruitbats i have never seen in Thailand but that doesn't say much.
Coming years i will get much more fruit so in case they steal to much i will buy big nets to cover the whole tree's.

I see Thai neighbours putting plastic of paper bags around fruits. I used fruitbags last year but gave up on that because nothing got stolen untill now.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

none can escape the wrath of the flying fox!   

Here in America, us fruit growers often have problems with creatures like raccoons, squirrels, and some birds. I've seen TV nature show video of fruit bats in foreign lands and it makes my skin crawl. Seeing as how they fly in huge flocks and operate at night, they seem to me like the ultimate fruit-grower's nightmare.
     How do you people deal with these creatures? Do they cause much damage?

[Mike T]

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/04/29/3994163.htm
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/flying-foxes.php
http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/71970/Flying-fox-control-methods-research.pdf

What can you say? There are lots of them and they come in the night and eat about a pound of fruit each and go.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Mike...

I'd imagine that most annonas are resistant to being eaten by flying foxes...

because they can be ready to pick before they are soft and edible...

is this somewhat true?

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/04/29/3994163.htm
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/flying-foxes.php
http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/71970/Flying-fox-control-methods-research.pdf

What can you say? There are lots of them and they come in the night and eat about a pound of fruit each and go.

[Mike T]

Saff the trick is to pick green fruit and let it ripen as the F'ing Foxes will eat fruit a bit greener than us but not rock hard. Annonas are certainly on the menu but at the stage of first yielding t0 pressure.I had mosquito net bags over sugar apples last year and the bats chewed the bag and fruit and hoovered the juice leaving a bad of seeds and skin. They are pretty crafty and don't mind papaya with a little crunch.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Saff the trick is to pick green fruit and let it ripen as the F'ing Foxes will eat fruit a bit greener than us but not rock hard. Annonas are certainly on the menu but at the stage of first yielding t0 pressure.I had mosquito net bags over sugar apples last year and the bats chewed the bag and fruit and hoovered the juice leaving a bad of seeds and skin. They are pretty crafty and don't mind papaya with a little crunch.

so are the annonas resistant? (more so than a mango, or jaboticaba?)

what are some of the more resistant fruits? Mamey?

[Mike T]

Most fruit are consumed with the highly favoured species being mangoes, papaya, lychees, longan, starapple, guava, sapodilla, rambutan and bananas. Fruit rarely consumed are jackfruit, mangosteen, mamey, canistel,  citrus, avocado, durian and salak. Most fruit fall between these in the keen-ness for consumption index.

Jaboticaba are eaten but not sought out with the same enthusiasm as many fruit and Annona are greatly enjoyed by flying foxes if they are ripening.

[BMc]

I'm a big fan of sacrificial cropping. Possums (bulldog sized squirrels) are well managed  by passionfruit grown up large trees on the boundary of your block. Inga is also useful in this regard. Panama berry manages the flying foxes well. They spend all their time up in the top of the tree and leave the lower branches alone. As a general rule, they will go for whatever keeps them highest and away from predators. Keeping the most desirable fruits on well managed trees helps a lot. A friend who has problems with jackfruit said he now just builds a sling in the top of his trees and the first Jakfruit spoilt just gets hung up there and they focus on that one fruit, which would otherwise fall to the ground and they'd start on a new fruit.

[jcaldeira]

The name 'Flying Rats' would be a more appropriate name.  Ravenous packs of those noisy fruit bats make screeching noise most of the night on my farm during mango season.  Once in a long while they'll come before it's dark, which is an awesome sight to see.  My dogs catch one once in a while.