Photos of a ‘Human-Sized’ Bat are Going Viral. Is it, However, Real?

A human-sized bat dangling outside their home is the stuff of nightmares for many people.

Those who are terrified by such hanging monsters may have a restless night after seeing this image. But don’t worry, since not everything is as it appears.

The photograph, which was shot in the Philippines, looks to depict a ‘human-sized’ nightmare hanging upside down from a roof, but it is simply a cunning camera trick.

A big golden-crowned flying fox, a large fruit-eating bat native to the Asian archipelago, is seen in the shot.

Although the flying mammals may have wingspans of up to 5ft5in, which is significantly taller than the average female height in the UK, bats only reach a height of around a foot.

While the enormous golden-crowned flying fox is much larger than the ordinary UK bat, which has a wingspan less than that of a sparrow, it is not “human-sized” in terms of height.

However, with some good forced perspective photography, such as that used to ‘prop up’ buildings like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the bats might appear much larger than they are – as in this example.

That hasn’t stopped people from freaking out when the image was shared on Twitter by @AlexJoestar622, who said, ‘Remember when I warned y’all about the Philippines having human-sized bats?’ Yes, this is what I was referring to.’

The post has received more than 260,000 likes and hundreds of comments.

However, one Twitter user was eager to point out the true size of the bat, writing: ‘Heya, from the Philippines here. I can confirm that they have a massive wingspan, yet their bodies are around the size of a medium (or somewhat smaller) sized dog.

‘And they just eat fruits, especially guavas.’ They’re also really gentle.’