Australia's animals beat the summer heat using mucous, saliva and precision engineering

Summer in the sunburnt country can be a brutal cauldron of heat and humidity — and not just for its human inhabitants. Facing north gave the mounds their "magnetic" moniker, but this orientation exploits wind direction and the Sun's movements to keep the structures' interior cool. Loading YouTube content Flying foxes will also start hugging trees but, if they continue to heat up, will lick themselves like kangaroos and pant heavily. Western Sydney University animal ecologist Justin Welbergen said the issue was even broader than flying foxes, which scientists think could be an "indicator species". "We suspect, and it is of concern, that flying foxes are kind of like bioindicators of the impacts of extreme heat events on other wildlife, wildlife with more cryptic lifestyles," he said.