Deathgleaner

The Deathgleaner is a huge, black, diurnal, highly predatory vesper bat that first appeared in the documentary The Future is Wild. They then appeared again in the documentary Wierd N’ Wild Creatures.

Facts
On the Wierd N‘ Wild Planet, high above the nighttime forests of the Northern Forests, Deathgleaners can be seen hanging in the air, resting on updrafts of wind blown off the forest ridges below. Deathgleaners have a wingspan of up to 4 feet (1.3 m). They circle like vultures, seeking an easy meal on the ground. Now and again, one wheels and banks, signaling to the others that it has found something. Soon, a large group will gather and prepare to feast. They will hunt for live prey and even scavenge carcasses if they can.

In some instances, it is not food they will spot, but something on the ground that suggests food may not be far away. A deathgleaner's penetrating eye can note shuffling in the grass. It can be an Awful Daggerclawer on the move, looking for prey to hunt on its own. On occasion, Deathgleaners will try to take a young mammal, like baby Daggerclawers or Balams, but this is not common for three felines (Daggerclawers, Balams, and Siberian Sabertooths) - the feline’s mom will protect their little ones from Deathgleaners at all causes (they will also risk tearing off their giant fragile wings with their sharp teeth). Instead, the bat will follow the movements of a carnivorous animal (like those three felines) in the hope that it leads to a fresh source of prey. When, for example, an Awful Daggerclawer is digging down or just hunting for prey at night, soaring Deathgleaners circle in, waiting. A Daggerclawer might, for example, dig a hole and sticks its head inside looking for a Spink, and this is what the Deathgleaners want. Once spinks are on the forest surface, possibly running away from the predator that digged it up, down soar the deathgleaners right in front of the predator’s face, shadow after shadow swooping in. Long talons, more birdlike than bat-like, pin their prey into the grass. Strong jaws and enormous teeth crush into a smaller vertebrate's backbone, delivering death swiftly. A shattered spink colony will provide plenty of food.

A deathgleaner's wing is typical of the wing of any bat. It consists of a membrane of skin stretched out between the elongated fingers of the hand. This is not the ideal arraignment for a cold-climate animal, since a great deal of body heat is lost through the skin. Birds do not have this problem because their wings are covered in insulating feathers. Deathgleaners avoid excessive heat loss by cooling the blood before it is pumped through the veins of the wing membrane. The heat taken from the blood going into the wings is used to warm the cooled blood coming back from them, by the same principle as industrial heat exchangers. On this planet, Deathgleaners do not like hot or cold, but in the middle.

Deathgleaners live in communal roosts, in the caves and ravines of the distant Rocky Mountains or Forest Caves. On this planet, they hibernate the same normal bats hibernate, but they huddle together to keep warm, and preserving enough energy until spring night to travel long distances in search of food. On the future earth, unlike most bats, Deathgleaners are only active in the daytime. They must wait until the sun has warmed the ground sufficiently to make use of warm air currents, or thermals. When night comes on future earth, temperatures drop to freezing, that deathgleaners cannot fly on such cold conditions, and hunting groups from miles around travel to their communal roosts for the night. On the Wierd N’ Wild Planet though, it is the other way around. They must wait until sun has set and the moon comes out to travel long distances and find prey to catch. When day comes, they fly back to their communal roosts for the day, and have to wait for the next night to come.

When food is particularly scarce, deathgleaners go into a state of torpor, saving energy by slowing down their metabolism. This strategy for conserving energy ensured their survival. The giant bats were also able to fill the scavenging niche which is mostly vacated by hawks and vultures, giving them the name (by the narrator) “The Vultures of the Northern Forests”.

Once an attack is over and the Deathgleaners have eaten their fill, the leftovers are gathered up and carried off. The meat will be taken back to the roost where it will be shared with related members of the colony. This is not a new phenomenon. Vampire bats also share food, filling special reserves with the blood of prey, which could then be passed on to other individuals of the same kind that had not eaten. By sharing food this way, the Deathgleaners aid the survival not only of individuals but of the entire species.

Mayhem of the Northern Forests, Part 1
When a mother Forest Harelope and her cubs were sleeping, a young female went outside to check out the night, but then she saw Deathgleaners circling above her in the night sky. One Deathgleaner flew down and the Harelope had to run back into her tree. But then the mom woke up and noticed, trying to scare him off. When the Deathgleaner tried to catch the Harelope family, Rusty the Daggerclawer pounced on the bat and ripped off the left wing and the bat was unable to fly, making the giant bat weak and Rusty managed to kill it, and carried it to eat it alive. Rusty then slept, and then awoke to finish his meal.