Creator Gould's Mammals of Australia (1845-1863)

Date 1863

The Little bat 'Scotophilus pumulis' (Eastern Forest Bat, Vespadelus pumilus, endemic to eastern Australia in NSW and Qld). ..Gould wrote in Mammals of Australia: ..'Although the Vespertilionidae are fairly represented in Australia, the species inhabitating that country are not very numerous. The Bat here represented is certainly one he very least of the Australian members of the family, for it scarcely exceeds in size the European Pipistrelle. It was my usual practice to look around during the last half-hour of daylight for Bats, at which to discharge the contents of of my gun before retiring to my tent, and by this means several species were collected which might otherwise even now be unknown in Europe. It was not, however, always necessary to shoot this little animal, for it is very tame, and my black attendants often amused themselves by cutting it down with a switch [small branch] as it passed before them, or rapidly skimmed over the water, a frequent habit with it. I found it especially abundant on the upper part ot the River Hunter, particularly on the banks fo the rivulets descending from tht mountain ranges.'

Source: Smithsonian Library