Bat Smile

Seba's short-tailed bat (Carollia perspicillata) - Stann Creek District, Belize

 

While walking around some old machinery I heard some noise coming from with, right away I suspected I knew what it was. So I crawled under it and sure enough there were a large amount of bats roosting within. I don't know as much about bats as I would like to so I wasn't quite sure which species. So I took a few photos and made my way back out quickly so as to minimize the stress on the bats. This photo is heavily cropped so as to better show off identifying characteristics, I sent it to several bat biologists who were able to tell me that its Carollia perspicillata. Then I decided that despite the heavy crop that the photo was still high enough quality to post so here it is! C. perspicillata is a widespread bat that can be found through much of Central America and the Northern half of South America. This species feeds predominantly on fruit but insects may be taken occasionally as well. Despite the abundance of this species, I don't believe I have encountered it before so it was a rather exciting find for me. Bats are a fascinating and diverse group of animals, infact different bat species make up about 25% of the total mammalian diversity. Which is astounding and means I have many yet to find!

 

Still trying to wash the bat poop out of the shorts I was wearing but it was definitely worth it!

 

Done