UNCOMMON PETS. 
A series of articles on the Care and Keep of Animals in Captivity. 
By P. WELLINGTON FARMBOROUGH, F.Z.S., F.E.S., etc. 
IX. FOREIGN BATS. 
HOSE 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 “slow.” Well, 
that is as may be, but the writer, who has 
had a considerable number of Foreign Bats 
as pets durmeg 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 ave 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 (Rowsettus collaris), 
the Indian Fox Bat (Pteropus medius) and the 
Comimon Short-nosed Fruit Bat (Cynopterus 
marginatus). There is also an Australian species 
of fruit bat, the Pteropus poliocephalus, 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. 
Unfortunately, as bats are not possessed of a “homing” instinct, their powers of flight 
cannot be observed unless their owner has a spare room in which they may be permitted 
to have partial freedom for a short time, a privilege they will much appreciate, and one 
that should be given them as often as circumstances permit. It is an extremely 
interesting sight to see the dexterity with which these creatures, during their flight, will 
avoid any obstacles in their way. 
The insectivorous bats which are adapted for a captive life are very few, owing 
to the difficulty of providing them with suitable food. The three species the writer 
has been successful with are the Indian False Vampire (Megaderma lyra), the Chestnut 
Mastiff Bat (Molossus glaucinus) and the Brazilian Wrinkle-lipped Bat (Nyctinomus 
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