Australia : The Trouble with Excessive Heat

This is the trouble with excessive heat. Like people, all animals have cooling mechanisms, but if the temperatures are too high, the mechanisms are inadequate and death follows. Reptiles are particularly vulnerable, but so too are bats: :

Hundreds of bats have died in sweltering conditions in Australia, with many dropping from their perches as the scorching temperatures "fried their brains", wildlife officials said Tuesday.

A record-breaking heatwave saw the mercury rise to 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in Sydney's western suburb of Campbelltown on Sunday where hundreds, if not thousands, of the animals fell from trees after succumbing to the heat.

"They basically boil," Campbelltown flying fox colony manager Kate Ryan told the local Camden Advertiser.

"It affects their brain -- their brain just fries and they become incoherent. It would be like standing in the middle of a sandpit with no shade."