Bat Brochure

While a few Common Vampire bats may roost in a hollow tree, the majority of bats are very beneficial. It is a mistake to think that destroying bat roosts will control “vampire bats”. Instead it will do immense damage to local populations of bats and have a serious impact on the health of our environment.

“Blind as a bat”—False!

Bats are not blind and most see very well. They do have very acute hearing and rely on echolocation to navigate in their environment and find food.

Proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso) is commonly seen during the day roosting under trees or rock ledges that hang over rivers and streams.

Bats are the night crew in the Neotropics.

Bats do the same things that birds do in the day: • Hummingbirds—Nectar bats • Hawks-Eagles—Predator bats • Kingfishers—Fishing bats • Insect-eating birds—Many insect-eating bats • Frugivorous birds—Fruit bats

Bats are good indicators of environmental health. If we lose the bats and the critical eco-

system services they provide, we may lose much of the tropical forests and vegetation.

Bats are very interesting creatures.

• Bats are the only mammals that can fly. • Bats generally have one baby per year. • Bats live for 15-25 years. • The smallest bats in Belize are merely 2 inches long and weigh 3 grams. • The largest bats in Belize are 6 inches and weigh nearly 200 grams. • Many species of bats share the same roosting areas: caves, cracks in rocks, hollow trees, under bark, under leaves (palms), rolled leaves (banana, heliconia), self-constructed tents, and man-made structures (under roofs).

Bats use sonar or echolocation.

Bats are “flying” rats—False!

Bats were very important to the mythology of the Ancient Maya.

Many people think there are only two kinds of bats in Belize, those that eat and damage fruit and the vampire bat—False!

They send out a high frequency sound (> 20 kHz), well above the range of human hearing. They use the echo coming back to navigate when they are flying in the dark and to find insects. Each species has a unique vocal signature, which allows scientists to use bat detectors to record and identify bats flying during the dark of night.

Bats symbolized the land of the dead, the underworld of the Maya. The bat god is “Camazotz”. El Zotz, means “bat” in Maya (symbol right).

Bats are not related to rats at all, but are more closely related to primates (monkeys). The Creole term “Rat-Bat” most likely originated from people seeing rats scurrying along the roof of buildings during the day and then seeing bats flying out from under the roof in the night.

In fact there are 78 species. Bats make up more than 52% of the terrestrial mammal diversity for Belize and are responsible for pollinating many important plants as well as eating vast amounts of insects each night.

Bats smoke cigarettes—False! Bats can get tangled in one’s hair—False!

False Myths and Misunderstandings All bats have rabies and are carriers of disease—False!

Only two of the 78 bat species found in Belize are “vampire” bats. 1) The Hairy-legged Vampire Bat feeds only on wild birds and is very rare. 2) The Common Vampire Bat may feed on domestic livestock, as well as wild animals, and may become an agriculture pest. The disease rabies can be transmitted from infected domestic livestock to healthy livestock by Common Vampire Bats. If your dogs and cats are immunized and livestock are well tended, the risk is very small.

This Common Mustached Bat (Pteronotus parnelli) is echo locating.

3) Do not start fires in caves or hollow trees where bats are roosting. The smoke and the carbon monoxide build up will not only kill countless individuals and many species, but all other living things inside.

Why Bats?

4) Do not attempt to poison bats roosting in buildings. There are no chemicals that work and any attempts to poison bats is dangerous. The use of pesticides only increases the chances that children and pets will be exposed to these environmental hazards.

Removing Bats from Buildings

This elegant bat is the Elegant Myotis (Myotis elegans).

Risks to Bats

• Ignorance of the importance of bats • Disturbance or destruction of bat roosting areas • Destruction of bat foraging habitats Bats are not only important to environmental health, but also critical to the survival of Neotropical flora and fauna and, therefore, to our survival. With tropical forests helping to reduce carbon dioxide that is contributing to global warming, we cannot afford to lose our tropical vegetation and we cannot ignore the silent nocturnal majority— Bats! Here are some simple rules to follow that will protect bats. 1) Never pick up or handle bats especially in caves. They are delicate and the stress may cause them to die. 2) Do not enter caves and make loud noises, shine bright lights or throw things at roosting bats to make them fly. If they have nursing young they may fall and die. Bats cannot tolerate such disturbance and in many cases populations become locally extinct due to thoughtless people in caves. Many species cannot live anywhere else but in a few selected cave sites. If driven out by heavy disturbance they will simply die as they cannot roost under other conditions.

Bats roost in dark, undisturbed areas, such as attics and wall spaces. The entry points are often near the roof edge, such as under the eaves, loose boards, zinc or tiles on the roof. The best way to remove bats from buildings is to seal off the entry points, but care must be taken to avoid blocking the bats inside the roost where they will die. One method is to hang plastic window screening from above the openings with staples or duct tape, letting it extend, unattached at the bottom, to one foot below the openings. This allows the bats to leave but not enter again. After a week these openings can be sealed. But do not attempt this in May, June or July as they will likely have babies then. Please do your part to ensure that these important creatures survive in Belize!

Neotropical Bat Project For more information, contact: Dr. Bruce W. Miller

Sponsored by:

Bats are very important! Bats provide critical ecosystem services:

• Bats pollinate many fruits. Without bats bananas, mangos and guavas would not produce fruits! • Bats disperse seeds in open areas. The habitat regenerates as the “seed rain” from the bats start colonizing plant species that provide for birds and other animals. • Bats eat many, many insects! One bat can eat 600 mosquitoes per hour and most bats you see flying at night eat insects.

Bats are critical for mammalian biodiversity:

• More than half of the mammals in Belizean lands are bats. • 78 species of bats are in Belize. • Nine bat families occur in the New World and six of these are only in the Neotropics.