Flick is a beautifully illustrated children’s book by local artist, Deborah Ladd. The inspiration for the book has been Deb’s involvement with the flying fox colony at Yarra Bend Park, and the group of volunteer heroes who care for the many pups that are injured and orphaned there each year.
Flick combines a heartwarming story of hope and resilience with interesting facts about Melbourne’s endangered flying fox colony, the critical role they play in the ecosystem, and the dangers they face from increasing urbanisation and climate change.
Down by the Birrarung, not far from Naarm,
Just 'round the bend from Collingwood Farm,
There's an upside-down family as big as they come,
And it's there that we meet little Flick and her Mum...
‘Flick the Flying Fox - A little bat’s journey home’ is a children's story about Flick, a flying fox pup who finds herself lost during a fierce storm at Yarra Bend. As she navigates unfamiliar surroundings, Flick embarks on an adventure of survival and friendship. With the help of kind humans and fellow flying fox pups, she learns valuable lessons about bravery and resilience. As Flick grows stronger, she learns to fly, explore the world, and eventually reunites with her mother in a joyful moment of triumph.
NOW AVAILABLE
CLICK HERE to purchase your copy of Flick the Flying Fox
For more information email: deborahladd@localutopia.com.au
About Flying Foxes
What do flying foxes eat?
Flying foxes have a very sweet tooth! They eat nectar, pollen and fruit. The trees feed them and they help the trees reproduce! They pollinate over 100 species of native trees and plants across vast areas. The young pups are fed milk by their mothers.
Are they endangered?
Yes, they are. Unfortunately climate change, and the destruction of their habitats to build our growing cities, is having a very bad effect on their numbers. Heat waves, fires, and excess rain all impact their food supply causing starvation.
Why do they hang upside-down?
Flying foxes hang upside down because that's the most energy efficient way to roost on a branch. Their claws are like hooks, and they lock onto the branches so tight that they sway in the wind and don't even let go when they're asleep!
Where do they fly at night?
Flying foxes that are old enough to fly, go out looking for food. Like us, they return to their favourite breakfast spot and once that tree stops flowering or fruiting they go elsewhere. They can smell the nectar of a large flowering eucalyptus from many kilometres away and will depart in large numbers to feast on their sugary blossoms.
How many flying foxes are there in a colony?
Colony sizes change depending on the season. They can have from a few hundered flying foxes up to 50,000. In the past, colonies were much bigger, maybe up to half a million flying foxes in each!
How long have they been in Australia?
They've been here a lot longer than us! Australian flying foxes are a ‘deep indigenous’ species (pre-dating humans) and they've been building Australian forest and landscapes for at least three million years.
How do they go to the toilet?
They pull themselves upright on their thumb claws and do their business that way to stay clean. Then they drop down to their normal upside-down position. Otherwise it’d be very messy for them indeed!
Lots of people believe myths about bats, but the truth is, they’re gentle, native animals that play a really important role in keeping our environment healthy by spreading pollen and seeds.
Bat myths – busted!
Bats are blind
Nope! All bats can see. Flying foxes (megabats) have great eyesight, and even the tiny microbats can see, although they also use echolocation (like built-in sonar) to find insects at night.
Bats are dirty and full of diseases
Nope! Bats are very clean animals and groom themselves often – just like cats! While wild animals can sometimes carry germs, bats aren’t dangerous if you leave them alone and never try to touch them. The musty smell in their camps is from the male scent gland to attract females.
Bats suck your blood
Only three types of bats drink blood, and they all live in Central and South America – not Australia. These vampire bats usually feed on cattle and only take a tiny bit of blood, like a mosquito does. They don’t suck blood from people’s necks like in scary movies!
Flying Fox Families
Flying foxes are placental mammals, just like us! Flying fox mums have one baby (called a pup) each year. After 6 months growing in mum’s belly, the pup is born and fed milk by its mother for up to five months.
For the first month, the pup clings to its mum’s belly all the time, even when she flies at night. When the pup gets too big to carry, mum leaves it in a special baby group called a crèche while she goes out to feed. She finds her pup again in the morning using special sounds and smells and they stay together all day sleeping and feeding.
Flying fox pups are born in spring or early summer when there’s lots of food around. At about 3 months old, pups start learning to fly short distances. They stay with their mum during the day, hanging out, grooming, and playing. They call for their mum with a chittering sound.
The dads don’t help raise the pups. Only the mums take care of the babies.
Flying Fox Camps
Where the bats hang out!
A flying fox camp is like a big bat village. Just like bees live in hives, flying foxes live in large groups called camps. These special places are very important for their survival.
Flying foxes use their camps to:
• Rest during the day
• Raise their babies
• Find mates
• Keep pups safe while the adults fly out at night to find food
• Stop and rest when they’re travelling long distances
Most camps are in warm, low places near rivers or creeks – the same places people like to build towns. Flying foxes also live in cities now, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Flying Fox Travel
Flying foxes are amazing travelers
Flying foxes are nocturnal. They fly out to feed at sunset and return before sunrise. Most return to the same camp, especially if they have pups there, but there's a lot of moving around to other camps as well.
They follow the flowering of their food trees, and can travel up to 100 km in a single night to find food.
Flying foxes trend south in the summer and north in the winter. Grey-headed flying foxes travel along the southern east coast of Australia to southern Queensland. They go where the trees are more likely to be flowering and fruiting and they have done this for millions of years.
Flying Foxes and our Forests
Without flying foxes, many of our native trees would struggle to survive
Flying foxes are a super important part of Australia’s natural history. They have helped shape our forests for millions of years.
They help forests grow strong and healthy by spreading seeds and pollinating flowers – just like big, furry, night-time bees! Their work keeps forests healthy which helps many other animals, birds and insects.
These clever animals visit more than 100 different types of flowering and fruiting trees. As they fly from tree to tree looking for nectar and fruit, they carry pollen on their fur and drop seeds far and wide. This helps new trees grow and keeps forests full of different kinds of plants.
Because flying foxes can fly long distances, they help trees grow in new places and stop plants from becoming too closely related. This makes forests tougher, healthier, and better at growing strong timber.
Flying Foxes – What’s the Future?
Why flying foxes need our help
Grey-headed flying foxes are listed as vulnerable to extinction. Unfortunately climate change, and the widespread destruction of their habitats for animal agriculture and our growing cities, is having a very bad effect on their numbers. Heat waves, fires, and floods all impact their food supply causing starvation. They’ve lost over 95% of their population since colonisation.
Their biggest threats are:
• Habitat loss (land clearing, less native forest)
• Urban dangers, like:
» Getting caught in unsafe fruit tree netting
» Being electrocuted on powerlines
» Hitting barbed wire fences
» Being disturbed or scared from their camps
Why they live in cities now
Flying foxes follow food and need warm places to live. Melbourne has:
• Warmer weather (fewer frosts)
• More trees and flowers planted by people
• Plenty of gardens and parks with water (like Birrarung).
So they’re now living in places like Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne because they have less space in their original homes due to land clearing.
How can we help flying foxes?
• Protect their homes and food sources. Plant native flowering trees for food and shelter.
• Flying foxes love it when you share your backyard fruit trees with them. If you want them to leave some for you, place some mesh washing bags over the fruit you can reach, and leave the high fruit for them.
• If you want to net your fruit trees, you must use safe netting, which is white, with holes 5mm x 5mm or smaller and pulled tight over a frame (not thrown loosely). For more information visit: wildlifefriendlyfencing.org
• Don’t disturb their camps and learn to manage camps the right way.
• Help people understand how amazing these animals are.
• Come see them! You can visit the Melbourne flying fox colony at Yarra Bend Park. There are trails, picnic spots, and you can even watch thousands of bats fly out at dusk – it’s amazing! Camps are best viewed with binoculars as flying foxes can be easily disturbed.
Let’s work together to protect our flying foxes – they’re vital to our planet’s future!
Different Types of Bats
Did you know that 1 in 5 mammals in the world is a bat? There are two main types of bats: Flying foxes (megabats) and microbats.
Mainland Australia has four species of flying fox:
History
Australian flying foxes have been around for millions of years. While spreading seeds to build our forests, they would have soared over megafauna such as Diprotodon – a wombat-like creature the size of a small car, Thylacoleo – a lion-like carnivorous marsupial and Protemnodon viator – a giant kangaroo. These species and many others were part of the flying fox’s world.
Flying fox timeline
50,000 – 65,000 years ago
The first humans arrived. Flying foxes held deep cultural significance for Indigenous Australians, serving as totems to connect them to their country and spiritual beliefs. For tens of thousands of years, people and flying foxes shared this land peacefully.
1770
Captain Cook saw huge flying fox colonies in Queensland. When Europeans landed in Australia, it teemed with wildlife, including its four species of flying fox. The influx of humans from the northern hemisphere was a catastrophe for most Australian wildlife and First Peoples.
1800s –1900s
Flying fox camps were destroyed, and many bats were killed to protect business interests, such as orchards. The bats were in the way and people didn't understand how important they were.
Today
It’s illegal to harm them. Climate change, habitat loss and human-made hazards are still big threats. Flying foxes keep fighting to survive, but are now vulnerable to extinction, they need our help!
A hopeful future
Most Australians now love their native wildlife and want to protect it. Flying foxes are key pollinators and essential workers. They choose their camps carefully based on micro-climates and we need to protect these places to make sure future generations can enjoy a world with flying foxes in it.
The future depends on young people like you, people who care about wildlife and the environment. By protecting flying foxes, we protect the forests and all native animals.
Their story is still being written – and you can be part of it.
Words in the Woi-wurrung language, of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation
In the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung language, the word for bat is Baliyang. Baliyang is also known as a creator figure, specifically of women.
Melbourne: Naarm
Yarra River: Birrarung
Kangaroo: Marram
Wombat: Warrin
Red bellied black snake: Gurnmil
Manna Gum: Wurrun
Other gum species: Bial
Sun: Ngawanh
Moon: Miniyan
Sky: Wurru-Wurru
The 7 Kulin seasons:
Biderap (Dry Season)
Iuk (Eel Season)
Waring (Wombat Season)
Guling (Orchid Season)
Poorneet (Tadpole Season)
Buarth Gurru (Grass Flowering Season)
Garrawang (Kangaroo-Apple Season)
This information was provided in consultation with The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
Friends of Bats & Bushcare
Vision
An Australia whose ancient indigenous species, and their role in building and maintaining a healthy environment, is better understood and far better appreciated.
Goal
To advance the conservation of flying foxes and other bat species and to help maintain the sustainability of their colony sites. To assist in the care of Melbourne’s bush and native floral diversity.
To become a Volunteer
CLICK HERE to register/sign in with ParkConnect
Contact
Brooke Henderson
Email: brookefobbinc@gmail.com
Always call local state wildlife rescue for bats found on the ground or in need of assistance.
Wildlife Victoria: 8400 7300
Fly By Night Bat Rescue: 0409 530 541
The Golden Rule with Wildlife is No Touch = No Risk!
Flying Foxes are protected by law – disturbing or harming them is an offence.
Flying Fox Rescues
Photo captions (clockwise):
Tinsel, the tiny Christmas miracle girl lost in long grass.
Lawrence and Mardi Girl (rescued with a joint fracture).
(Lawrence Pope and Megan Davidson are the founders of Friends of Bats & Bushcare, formed in 2003 and registered as a Parks Victoria group in 2016)
Bee Bee on the bottle.
Flick, Deborah Ladd’s first rescue, (snuggled in a hat).
Local wildlife carer Nathan Milnes, releasing a grey-headed flying fox at Yarra Bend.
How did you start looking after flying foxes?
In 2017, I started as a wildlife rescue volunteer for all
Australian animals. During training, they told us that to rescue bats, you need to be vaccinated – so I immediately went out and got vaccinated.
In 2020, there were bad bush fires and lots of orphaned flying foxes needed care. Tamsyn from Fly By Night Bat Clinic reached out because they needed more people and so began my amazing journey of becoming a bat carer.
What do you love most about flying foxes?
EVERYTHING! They all have unique personalities, just like humans. They are gentle, kind, and accepting of one another. It’s not uncommon to visit Yarra Bend and find little red flying foxes and grey-headed flying foxes happily sharing the same trees.
I love that they are our nighttime bees and so important for our ecosystem. They pollinate our forests and without them other plants and animals like koalas would become extinct.
What do baby flying foxes (pups) need when you first rescue them?
First I wrap them up to keep them warm. Then I make sure the pup has some glucose water to provide all its major organs with the energy they need to keep functioning. After that I assess the pup for any injuries.
If the pup is healthy, has no injuries and has maybe been accidentally dropped in flight, I would attempt to reunite the pup with its mother. Flying foxes are amazing mums and will come back to find their babies.
If it has any injuries or is too small it will come into care. Once in care they need to be kept warm, given fluids, food and lots of care until they are big enough to go to bat school or creche and then released back to nature.
Do you name the flying foxes you look after?
All my flying foxes have names! Some are normal names like Frank, George, Dawn, or April Blossom. Others are more creative like Screech, Zap, or Nugget. I usually get help naming them from members of the public, rescuers, or even vets and vet staff.
How do you help a flying fox if it’s hurt or sick?
If you find a flying fox that’s hurt or sick, you must call an adult or someone to help. Do not touch the bat. Ask an adult to call Fly By Night Bat Clinic or your local wildlife rescue group. They will send a special bat rescuer to help.
What do you feed flying foxes when they are little? What about when they are older?
When they are little you need to feed them bottle milk with a special formula for bats. They drink the milk from a bottle just like a human baby. They drink milk until they reach the age of 7-8 weeks and then we start introducing steamed fruit. Once they reach 12 weeks they should be fully weaned (no more milk) and only eat fruit with some special high protein powder.
Where do they stay? Do they sleep in your house?
Absolutely! All the bats that come into my care stay in my house. I have a special room set up that is just for bats with cages that they hang upside down in if they are recovering from injuries. If they are really sick I have special cribs. If they are little and learning to fly, I have a large indoor aviary that they can practice flying in. You can hear them flying from one side to the other during the night.
What’s the funniest or cutest thing a flying fox has ever done in your care?
They are very curious and often try to steal my reading glasses or hats. Sometimes, they even like to help me type on the keyboard while I work!
Is it hard to say goodbye when you release them back into the wild?
I love being able to release healthy adult flying foxes back into the wild. One of the things that makes being a carer worthwhile is to watch an adult flying fox (fully recovered) fly off into the wild. Watching them take off is magical and a complete honour to see.
However, its always hard to say goodbye to young pups. They become a large part of your everyday life for 3 or more months. They like to be close to you. The first flight they ever take is likely to be to you! The bond you form with them is really important for their development. This bond or emotional connection is as vital as food and water.
A heartfelt thank you to all who contributed their efforts and wisdom. Your support has been essential in helping to shape this project.
© Deborah Ladd, 2025. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without prior written permission.
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