Despite their creepy rep, bats are actually very social little creatures, preferring to while away their days in big groups known in frugivore circles as camps. One of the largest urban bat camps happens to be in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, just a short walk from the Australian city's iconic opera house. Stop by the historic gardens at dusk, and watch 20,000 gray-headed flying foxes — also known as fruit bats — come to life from their day's sleep in the trees above. Native to Australia, flying foxes have the biggest bodies of any bats on the planet and massive wingspans of up to 3 ft. Watching them take off en masse to forage for food in the dark is something no visitor to Sydney should miss. A proposal to relocate the flying-fox camp to other parts of the city is under consideration now, so catch them before they fly away. Admission to the Royal Botanic Gardens: free.
— By Krista Mahr