Bats' Night Out

Last week was "Spirit Week" at the Casey Community School here in Gallon Jug.  It was kicked off on Monday, commemorating the second anniversary of the accident which claimed the lives of beloved teachers, Mike and Jill Casey, their two children, Makayla and Bryce, and Sir Barry Bowen, the owner of Gallon Jug and Chan Chich. Dear friends all and sorely missed.

The week was filled with fun activities for the students, including  Pajama Day and Dress Like a Wild Animal Day on Wednesday.  Wednesday also included a lecture from Dr. Bruce Miller about bats and why they are important.  That evening, the students accompanied Bruce into the field for a night of "batting" and the opportunity to meet some bats "up close and personal."  They listened to bat echolocation calls recorded via special equipment and were able to see a few small  bats, captured and released from the harp traps (see above; two tiny bats are clinging to the canvas capture bag).

Baby on Board

 

A few weeks ago, Chan Chich Lodge guest snapped this unusual photograph of a Short-tailed fruit bat (Carollia sp.).  Liz took this great photo in the Upper Plaza, right next to the Lodge.  Short-tailed fruit bats are very common throughout tropical Central and South America.  They play a very important role, consuming fruits and dispersing copious numbers of seeds in their droppings.  Many of the seeds are important colonizers helping the forest to regenerate in denuded areas.

What makes Liz's photo so charming and unique is the baby on board.  Can you imagine the energy and strength it takes to fly carrying a baby one third your size?

What do Toucans and Bats Have in Common?

Our friend and neighbor, Alan, here in Gallon Jug, sent over these great images of a Keel-billed Toucan in flight, and then perching in a "hurricane downed tree" tree. It's fun to see the classic "in flight" image of this bird. While this is a fairly common and readily seen species, it is a bit out of character for this toucan to be in the open farm areas of Gallon Jug Farm. It's mainly a frugivore (fruit eater) so I have to wonder whether it is still a bit disoriented from Hurricane Richard and seeking new food resources. Many trees, while still standing, were stripped of leaves and fruits, thanks to the high winds.

We're seeing something similar with certain bat species. What do toucans and bats have in common? Fruits comprise an important part of the diet of toucans and many bats. We've had two reports of fruit bats flying in daylight including a video of bats swarming around a fruiting tree. Could it be that food resources are so limited that they are risking daytime flight -- and exposure to predators -- in order to find fruit?

On my afternoon walk yesterday, there were two fruit bats in flight before the sun had even set. Since it'll be a while before the trees recover, I hope all the frugivorous species can hang on.

The Turtleman's House

I normally post exclusively about Chan Chich Lodge and Gallon Jug Estate ... but I couldn't help myself. We've just returned from Belize's Ambergris Caye where we did a short bat survey and then took a couple days to relax.

The Turtleman's House (above) is named for biologist Greg Smith, "the Turtleman," who has lived on northern Ambergris Caye for well over 20 years. The house over the water, pictured above, is where we stayed. It was like something out of Swiss Family Robinson, put together with driftwood and other found objects. Most would call it "rustic" but we were completely comfortable and extremely well fed thanks to the excellent fresh-caught fish prepared by both Greg and his wife Rosemary.

I'm not a fan of long boat trips to crowded snorkeling spots so the fact that we could wade out from the house over the water and enjoy snorkeling in 5-6 ft. water at our leisure, was a real pleasure. Greg was on hand, along with the 3 knowledgeable Smith children, to answer any marine questions and identify the myriad fish species for us.

The Smiths enjoy having guests, but do keep in mind that you need to be a hearty adventurous sort. Most tourist accommodations are designed to offer an "experience." Turtleman's House and the Smith family are authentic, the real deal. Check them out here: http://turtlemanshouse.com/

And as for us, the trip was a big success combining a little slice of paradise with a short research project.

The Ghosts are Out and About

No, this bat is not an albino. More like a ... ghost.

Despite its ghostly appearance, this is an insectivorous bat that is rarely seen or photographed. It occurs in Central America and South America and evidently some of the Caribbean islands, such as Trinidad, where it is known as the "Jumby" bat. A jumby is a demon or spirit of Caribbean folklore. Little, if anything, is known of its natural history. It's Diclidurus albus, the Northern Ghost bat.

Bruce has recorded this species many times throughout the country. It is a fast, high flier that evades harp traps and mist nets. Sometimes we've caught a glimpse of it by shining a spotlight overhead while "capturing" its echolocation calls during acoustic recording surveys. Snow white, it definitely stands out in a dark sky, illuminated by spotlight. But we've never captured one.

In fact, the ghost bat is a species that occasioned an expedition to southern Belize undertaken some years ago. Bruce got recordings but no capture ("Chasing the Ghost Bat," Scientific American, June 1999). More than 10 years later, what a surprise to see this photo taken in Peten, Guatemala, about 65 miles from Gallon Jug Estate, as the Ghost bat flies. My thanks to the Wightman family for sharing their photos with us.

Bats, Caves and Politics

I've mentioned before that my husband Bruce studies bats and that we were recently in the Mountain Pine Ridge in southern Belize for field work. The great thing about this area is the numerous caves that are home to many species of bats. Up in the Gallon Jug area, there is little karst topography and thus little in the way of caves.

The photo above gives a fair idea of a bat cave in southern Belize, showing the bats exiting at dusk. Some caves of course, have far bigger openings making them more accessible to "cave tourism," a type of rapidly growing adventure tourism in Belize. They also may have interesting formations, chambers and Maya artifacts, making them of particular interest to cavers or adventure tourists.

This isn't so great for bats. Many cannot tolerate the disturbance (imagine headlights, flashlights etc.) or changes to the delicate balance of the cave's humidity that a group of humans bring. To say nothing of an appalling first hand story we had from a friend. He entered a cave with a small tour group ... and the guide promptly set off firecrackers to make the bats fly!

Luckily, to survey bats, we don't need to enter the caves. Technology to the rescue. Bruce has pioneered the use of acoustic recording to survey the bats as they enter or exit the cave. All that's needed is a special recording unit and microphone strategically placed outside the cave to "capture" their echolocation calls.

While we appreciate that caving tourism is popular and an important form of revenue for many tourist lodges in Belize and elsewhere, we'd like to see a cave policy where caves critical to bat colonies are left undisturbed. With so many private sector interests, as well as government ministries involved, unfortunately for the bats, that won't happen any time soon.

Birth of a Bat

In the course of field work last week, we had a most strange and wondrous experience. We'd gone south, to Belize's Mountain Pine Ridge, doing a bat survey which involved using harp traps as well as acoustic recording. As the name implies, the harp trap has "strings" suspended on a frame, and depending on placement, the bat flies into the strings and tumbles gently into a canvas holding bag. Bruce retrieves the bat, records the pertinent data and releases it, unharmed.

On this day, a nectar feeding bat, Hylonycteris underwoodi, gave birth in his hand! No sooner had he pulled her from the soft cotton holding bag, just like that, her baby popped out. It was total surprise to all of us. You can see it in the photo above, a wet little package that the mother is holding with her feet.

Given the unexpected birth, we wondered whether to put the pair in a warm, dark place to "bond" or what exactly was the best post natal care to offer. As it turned out, the mother bat knew just what to do and wasted no time going about it. She hiked the baby up to her breast with a foot and launched, disappearing into the forest, heading for home.

A Bit About Bats

Cute and Fuzzy: Myotis elegans bat

Why study bats? It's a question my husband Bruce addresses from time to time since bats are his specialty. And let's be honest, there's a big yuck factor for many people regarding bats. But bats are actually cute and fuzzy.

Really.

Ok, some of them are a bit bizarre-looking. But you must admit the little myotis (above) is a pretty appealing little animal. And "little" it is, at less than 4 grams in weight. That's less than a single US 5-cent coin.

Since bats are nocturnal, they can be hard to study. But they are still important. Bats provide valuable "ecosystem services" such as:

• critical pollinators of many tropical plants
  
• seed dispersers that recolonize cleared areas
  
• insect population control

Bats are also indicators of habitat quality and habitat stability due to long life spans. Not only that, they comprise more than 50% of terrestrial mammal species in the New World tropics. Reason enough to give them their due.