Watch the sighting here:
Brent Leo-Smith submitted his footage and account of the incident to Latest Sightings. The encounter occurred in his garden within the Balule Game Reserve, Greater Kruger.
Setting the scene
Brent said, “(We) heard bird alarm calls in the garden so we went to see what the commotion was about. A fruit bat had flown down onto the floor and a very ambitious bushshrike spent a few minutes attacking and pecking at the fruit bat.”
The video begins with a scene of the fruit bat hanging upside down from a branch.
Grounded!
In the next scene, the video shows the fruit bat lying on the ground.
In his account, Brent said it soon attracted the attention of a grey-headed bush shrike.
Unlikely confrontation
And so, the stage was set for an unusual standoff. Although, as Brent said, this was not the first time he had recorded this species of bird tackling unusual prey.
Grey-headed bush shrikes are known to eat mice, small birds and various reptiles, including small snakes.
Helpless
Lying on the ground with its wings splayed, the bat looks quite helpless and pathetic. Meanwhile, the shrike looks menacing with its hooked beak and piercing gaze.
The shrike would go on to repeatedly peck at the ‘stranded’ bat. As Brent explained, “The fruit bat was not in an ideal position as they struggle to take flight from the ground.”
He continued, “By hanging upside down, they are able to easily launch themselves into flight if they need to escape.”
Meagre defence
Unable to fly away, the bat could only defend itself by gaping its jaws at its attacker, all the while squealing in protest.
Reprieve
Ultimately, the bird seems to have decided that the bat’s aggressive self-defence was too much for it to deal with. Eventually, it would appear, that the bird flew off.
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However, the bat’s ordeal was not over as it still lay exposed on the ground. It is almost pitiful to see its vulnerability as it awkwardly manoeuvres on the ground.
As it does so, its expression is one of grim determination…
Safe at last
Although it is not clear how this occurred, somehow the bat managed to take flight once again. As the video comes to an end, the bat is seen quivering as it hangs safely in the tree.
More about bats
Also known as megabats, fruit bats belong to the family Pteropodidae (Order Chiroptera). As suggested by their name, they feed on fruit and some plants. Meanwhile, microbats feed on insects caught in flight.
Aside from their diets, a key difference is that fruit bats rely on sight and smell to navigate. Microbats use echolocation, a biological form of radar.
They are the only mammals capable of true flight. They are also one of the most successful mammals (after rodents). Their 1400 species represent 20% of all known mammals.