Bats were very important to the mythologyof the Ancient Maya.
Bats symbolized theland of the dead, theunderworld of theMaya. The bat god is“Camazotz”. El Zotz,means “bat” in Maya(
symbol right
).
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 onwild birds and is very rare.2) The Common Vampire Bat may feed on domes-tic livestock, as well as wild animals, and maybecome an agriculture pest.The disease rabies can be transmitted from in-fected domestic livestock to healthy livestock byCommon Vampire Bats. If your dogs and cats areimmunized and livestock are well tended, therisk is very small.While a few Common Vampire bats may roost ina hollow tree, the majority of bats are very ben-
ecial. It is a mistake to think that destroying bat
roosts will control “vampire bats”. Instead it willdo immense damage to local populations of batsand have a serious impact on the health of ourenvironment.
“Blind as a bat”—False!
Bats are not blind and most see very well. Theydo have very acute hearing and rely on echolo-
cation to navigate in their environment and nd
food.
Bats are “fying” rats—False!
Bats are not related to rats at all, but are moreclosely related to primates (monkeys). The Cre-ole term “Rat-Bat” most likely originated frompeople seeing rats scurrying along the roof of
buildings during the day and then seeing bats y
-ing out from under the roof in the night.
Many people think there are only twokinds of bats in Belize, those that eat anddamage fruit and the vampire bat—False!
In fact there are 78 species. Bats make up morethan 52% of the terrestrial mammal diversity forBelize and are responsible for pollinating manyimportant plants as well as eating vast amountsof insects each night.
Bats smoke cigarettes—False!
Bats can get tangled in one’s hair—
False!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
• Kingshers—Fishing bats•
Insect-eating birds—Many insect-eating bats
• Frugivorous birds—Fruit bats
Bats are good indicators of environmentalhealth.
If we lose the bats and the critical eco-system services they provide, we may lose muchof the tropical forests and vegetation.
Bats are very interesting creatures.
• Bats are the only mammals that can y.•
Bats generally have one baby per year.
•
Bats live for 15-25 years.
•
The smallest bats in Belize are merely 2 incheslong and weigh 3 grams.
•
The largest bats in Belize are 6 inches andweigh nearly 200 grams.
•
Many species of bats share the same roostingareas: caves, cracks in rocks, hollow trees,under bark, under leaves (palms), rolledleaves (banana, heliconia), self-constructedtents, and man-made structures (under roofs).
Bats use sonar or echolocation.
They send out a high frequency sound (> 20 kHz),well above the range of human hearing. Theyuse the echo coming back to navigate when they
are ying in the dark and to nd insects. Each
species has a unique vocal signature, which al-lows scientists to use bat detectors to record and
identify bats ying during the dark of night.
Proboscis bat (
Rhynchonycteris naso
) is com-monly seen during the day roosting under treesor rock ledges that hang over rivers and streams.This Common Mustached Bat (
Pteronotus parnelli
)is echo locating.
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Bruce Miller is the authority on Bats in Belize. He will be hosting camping trips to Actun Chapat and Actun Halal in Belize.