For many, the sight of a bat of a human-like size hanging outside their homes evokes images from horror films or nightmares. However, this perception may lead to a sleepless night for those who come across a photograph posted on Twitter by user @AlexJoestar622.
A user with the account @AlexJoestar622 shared a picture of a human-sized bat on Twitter, leaving people freaking out. The post read: 'Remember when I told y'all about the Philippines having human-sized bats? Yeah, this was what I was talking about.'
The post went viral, leaving users with nightmares and attracting thousands of comments.
One person tweed: A bat the size of a dog is really a huge bat. A wing span of almost 6ft. Hopefully, these bats stay away from me when walking outdoors...
A second wrote: I ain't forget when y'all dragged this human-sized bat. the cutie pie was just sleeping. it did nun to y'all.
Another added: Everyone knows the only place you find human-sized rodents is Australia.
However, others were incredulous about its actual size. One Twitter was quick to point out the real size of the bat. saying: 'Heya, from the Philippines here. I can confirm this, they have a huuuuuge wingspan but the bodies are not really that big, more or less like the same body as a medium (bit smaller) sized dog.
'And yeah they only eat fruits, guavas most particularly. They're really gentle too.'
While it's true that flying mammals like bats can have wingspans of up to 5ft5in, slightly exceeding the average height of women in the UK, their actual height is approximately a foot.
The giant golden-crowned flying fox, although notably larger than the average UK bat with a wingspan shorter than that of a sparrow, does not qualify as 'human-sized' in terms of height.
The photograph, employing forced perspective techniques similar to those used to create optical illusions like 'holding up' landmarks such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, makes the bats appear much larger than their actual size.
