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A photo of a bizarre-looking human-sized bat has caught people’s attention on social media over the past few days. The original photo of the bat hanging upside down from the outer side of a house reportedly went viral a few years ago. However, as per research done on recent Google trends, netizens have developed an interest in the bat yet again.
On Twitter, user @AlexJoestar622 shared a screenshot of the original post alongside the image of the bat itself on June 24, 2020. In the caption, he conveyed that these bats, who are the size of a human, can be seen in the Philippines. The black-winged mammal in the viral photo displays a size that is extremely larger than the usual sizes noticed among bats, making it look quite terrifying.
According to the caption of the original post, this bat is called the giant golden-crowned flying fox, or the golden-capped fruit bat. They have a wingspan of up to 5.58 feet. It was also clarified in the post for everyone’s reassurance that despite the hulking size, these bats primarily consume fruits.
One Twitter user @TheTNVet commented on the New York Post’s tweet containing the photos of the human-sized bat and humorously wrote that it was just their ex-wife.
Internet reacts to resurfaced images of human-sized bat from the Philippines
As the photo of the viral giant bat emerged on the internet again, some users on Twitter doubted the bat’s apparent dimensions. Some even thought that the photo was fake. Others made sarcastic comments about the viral giant bat.
Usual bats seen here and there are quite small in size, posing no threat to humans or other animals. So, when netizens learned about bats the size of humans, their first thought about the said animal was definitely not warm and fuzzy.
Given the fact that these mammals are commonly associated with Dracula, vampires, and Halloween since certain species of this mammal feed off blood. However, several Filipinos confirmed that these human-sized animals are harmless to humans as they are herbivorous.
This particular species of this flying mammal has the longest documented length of forearms seen in any other species of bats. The giant golden-crowned flying fox’s forearm measures up to 8.5 inches.
