I love this essay so much! And the mention of echolocation reminds me of that Invisibilia episode about the blind man who uses it. That was such a golden age of podcasting…
I have bought my tickets for the Milwaukee showing! And am taking my daughter who is a huge nature lover, having travelled for three years in a skoolie around national parks
I really enjoyed this behind-the-scenes thought process about capturing Flaco on film. :) I enjoyed the movie, too. If I may, I'm sharing a link to my review at the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
I confess I'm a little biased in Flaco's favor. I lived in Brooklyn many years ago and still love the city, though I'm now in Florida. Flaco happened across my social media feed while I was undergoing chemo for six months, and I fell in love with that beautiful bird and his story. You did him justice. https://awfj.org/blog/2026/07/22/wild-inside-review-by-valerie-kalfrin/
Bats ain't Bats. From January 2001 to mid-April 2020, I lived cheek by jowel with my roosting colony of fruit bats in my mango tree just a few feet from my permanently open bedroom window.
My fellow Aussies revel proudly in their ignorance, misname fruit bats 'flying foxes'. So what if they're not foxes? Their intelligent, upside-down faces look a tiny bit like upside-down fox faces. They fly: ergo in Oz, they are 'flying foxes'. Aussies are not renowned for their taxonomic rigour. They call phalangers 'possums' just because phalangers reminded Banks of the North American opposums he had encountered.
I taught my fruit bats everything I knew about urban etiquette. No, it is not OK to fight and fuck all night long, keeping everyone awake, however much you might enjoy it.
Like teenagers hanging upside down in their tree, they would stare down at me while I lectured them, wagging my finger. Minutes later, they would be at it again, forcing me to storm anew into their leafy dorm, angrily threatening them with the direst penalties if they persisted.
Their endless mischief didn't bother me. I need next to no sleep, food, or drink. I put on my indignant Housemaster act only to try to give my sleepless wyf a little relief from the bats' endless banter.
In the dawn, my bats would take off, a hundred bundles of brigandry, cacking like the Wicked Witch of the West's Winged Monkeys, some with a large mango clasped in their claws, which they would drop on my tin roof from a hundred feet, laughing hysterically at the sound of the impact, knowing it would annoy me.
Inside my tropical home, I had a roost of a dozen micro bats, brown furry balls clustered in the apex, gripping the timber beam with their tiny feet. They would fly like a rocket straight at my head. I refused to duck. At the last moment, they would veer off, exasperated by my indifference. They couldn't cope with the ceiling fans, would get knocked down to the polished timber floor, where they would lie stunned, unable to get airborne, little mouths falling open, pointed fangs gleaming. Tropical bats often carry lassavirus, an incurable cousin of rabies. I swept each one up carefully with dustpan and brush, placed him or her between the folds of a beach towel hanging over the deck balcony, so they could crawl out and fly off.
Do humans know what it is to be a bat? I think I do. But then, I'm not human.
I would definitely love to see this on the BIG SCREEN. And I’d like to add….you must have some cool 😎 parents to name you PENNY!! Just reading your name, the song is playing in my head. 😄👍🏼
It's playing in select theaters nationwide! if you tell me where you live, I can see if it's going to be near you. or you can look at FlacoDocumentary.com which is mostly accurate most of the time :)
I love this essay so much! And the mention of echolocation reminds me of that Invisibilia episode about the blind man who uses it. That was such a golden age of podcasting…
I remember that episode! golden age indeed...
I have bought my tickets for the Milwaukee showing! And am taking my daughter who is a huge nature lover, having travelled for three years in a skoolie around national parks
Incredible! I believe we are setting up a zoom Q&A there (or trying anyway) — hopefully your daughter can ask me a question!
A good one! I especially appreciate you calling out the false dichotomy, and describing how all empathy requires imagination (and humility)
Hi, Penny!
I really enjoyed this behind-the-scenes thought process about capturing Flaco on film. :) I enjoyed the movie, too. If I may, I'm sharing a link to my review at the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
I confess I'm a little biased in Flaco's favor. I lived in Brooklyn many years ago and still love the city, though I'm now in Florida. Flaco happened across my social media feed while I was undergoing chemo for six months, and I fell in love with that beautiful bird and his story. You did him justice. https://awfj.org/blog/2026/07/22/wild-inside-review-by-valerie-kalfrin/
I cannot wait to watch this documentary here in Spain! Beautiful story, thank you for sharing
Can't wait to see it!!!
Yay! Is it playing near you?
C E N T R A L P A R K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh good lucky you
Why isn’t anyone releasing a fellow owl for Flaco?
A sweet thought, but I'm not sure we want to have a breeding pair of non-native apex predators on the loose. :)
Good point Penny❣️
Bats ain't Bats. From January 2001 to mid-April 2020, I lived cheek by jowel with my roosting colony of fruit bats in my mango tree just a few feet from my permanently open bedroom window.
My fellow Aussies revel proudly in their ignorance, misname fruit bats 'flying foxes'. So what if they're not foxes? Their intelligent, upside-down faces look a tiny bit like upside-down fox faces. They fly: ergo in Oz, they are 'flying foxes'. Aussies are not renowned for their taxonomic rigour. They call phalangers 'possums' just because phalangers reminded Banks of the North American opposums he had encountered.
I taught my fruit bats everything I knew about urban etiquette. No, it is not OK to fight and fuck all night long, keeping everyone awake, however much you might enjoy it.
Like teenagers hanging upside down in their tree, they would stare down at me while I lectured them, wagging my finger. Minutes later, they would be at it again, forcing me to storm anew into their leafy dorm, angrily threatening them with the direst penalties if they persisted.
Their endless mischief didn't bother me. I need next to no sleep, food, or drink. I put on my indignant Housemaster act only to try to give my sleepless wyf a little relief from the bats' endless banter.
In the dawn, my bats would take off, a hundred bundles of brigandry, cacking like the Wicked Witch of the West's Winged Monkeys, some with a large mango clasped in their claws, which they would drop on my tin roof from a hundred feet, laughing hysterically at the sound of the impact, knowing it would annoy me.
Inside my tropical home, I had a roost of a dozen micro bats, brown furry balls clustered in the apex, gripping the timber beam with their tiny feet. They would fly like a rocket straight at my head. I refused to duck. At the last moment, they would veer off, exasperated by my indifference. They couldn't cope with the ceiling fans, would get knocked down to the polished timber floor, where they would lie stunned, unable to get airborne, little mouths falling open, pointed fangs gleaming. Tropical bats often carry lassavirus, an incurable cousin of rabies. I swept each one up carefully with dustpan and brush, placed him or her between the folds of a beach towel hanging over the deck balcony, so they could crawl out and fly off.
Do humans know what it is to be a bat? I think I do. But then, I'm not human.
What a wonderful read! This is a topic I have been contending with for a long while especially from my African POV. I cant wait to watch Flaco's story in Wild Inside whenever HBO releases it, in the meantime I am on honoured to share my thoughts about owls in this article https://sentinelredefine.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-the-owl?r=60i47j&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
I would definitely love to see this on the BIG SCREEN. And I’d like to add….you must have some cool 😎 parents to name you PENNY!! Just reading your name, the song is playing in my head. 😄👍🏼
nice! it's still in dozens in theaters, you can check flacodocumentary.com to find out if it's near you
Thank you 🙏
Flaco is so beautiful! Unfortunately I don't live in NYC so I can't come to the screening. I hope Flaco is safe and sound, wherever he is.
It's playing in select theaters nationwide! if you tell me where you live, I can see if it's going to be near you. or you can look at FlacoDocumentary.com which is mostly accurate most of the time :)