On a recent expedition in Gujarat, India, photographer Hardik shel conquered a rare phenomenon along a river in sizzling heat. With temperatures with 110 degrees Fahrenheit, he and his colleagues were not the only ones who kept hydrated to try to stay cool.
“It was a summer afternoon and we were on a day trip to click on these great creatures, the Fruitbat,” Shellel said recently Petapixel. “We waited almost two and a half hours with nothing to see in the intense heat.” In the end, the waiting turned out to be worthwhile, because the normal nocturnal beings came out of the trees to cool themselves and drink some water.
The Indian Flying Fox, or Giant fruit batgets his name from his long, canid-like snout and incredible size, with a wingspan of almost four feet. Collecting in trees, where they live in large colonies, the animals feed on fruit, nectar, seeds and insects, with the help of vision and odor to find food instead of echolocation such as many other bat species.
Explore more incredible nature images of Shelel, who has worked with the BBC, National Geographic, WWF, Discovery and more, on Instagram.
