Getting the mandatory rabies vaccination was expensive and time-consuming, but once my girlfriend and I got to Cairns & Atherton in Australia, it was worth it. We were there in October because that's when the Flying Foxes are most vulnerable to ticks which paralyze and kill them. I got some advance practice in tick removal while we were in Brisbane: A kangaroo at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary had one of these engorged arachnids lodged in his back, so I pulled the damn thing out. But, I'm such an animal lover that I didn't even kill the tick, I just tossed it in the dirt somewhere. I know it sounds ridiculous, because the arachnid probably just latched onto some other animal, but it reminded me of my pet tarantula so I couldn't kill it.

Anyway, the first Flying Fox I really got to know was at the Cairns Rain Forest Dome (located above a casino). It's a small attraction, but recommended, in case you happen to be in Cairns. There were plenty of exotic birds, which got the most attention from customers. Fruit Bats, being common, indiginous creatures there, got less attention. I was amazed at how many tourists were posing for pictures with the many tame parrots & makaws who rome freely (minimal supervision from zoo-keepers; you'd never see this in America!) and crave human attention. The large bats were ignored, but not by Americans like myself who consider them exotic! With no signs saying otherwise, I grabbed an apple slice and began hand-feeding a gentle mother bat WHILE she nursed her baby! Though the Flying Fox wouldn't leave it's purch, she came right up to us, and let us pet & scratch her. When the apple was gone, she licked every inch of my hand.
This was only the beginning.

It was great doing volunteer work at Jenny McLean's Bat Hospital! We rented a cottage for a few days and were able to live with these wild bats (caged out back). This house is located in a warm rain-forest and will soon be open to the public.

Chopping up fruit and doing general yard work is one thing, but the really grim part was burying the bats which didn't survive their encounters with ticks and the ever ominous barbed-wire fence. Also, we were called early in the morning by an irate mother who found a bloodied-up bat stuck to her barbed wire fence. She said she'd kill it if we didn't come get it, so I got a pair of wire cutters, and off we went! Once me and Jenny rescued the terrified bat, it came to realize we were there to help and it wasn't aggressive.

The most magical part was nursing the orphaned (their parents lost their battles with fences, ticks, farmer's bullets, etc.) baby bats back to health. As a heterosexual male with traces of punk rock "machismo", I've never used words like "darling" or "cute". But these words were all I could come up with. In fact, I cried like a baby as I packed my bags when the trip was over, realizing I'd never feed one of those clinging (they love hands!) babies again.

In the final analysis, it's a trip worth saving up for. I recommend it to anybody who wants to work with the world's largest bats. If so, save your money for a while and do the research. You can find the Bat Hospital's websites if you look hard enough.