Holy Longnose, Batman!!!

[c.j.]

CJ's Desert Dwellers: Holy Longnose, Batman!!!

There are twenty-eight species of bats in North America, all but two being insectivorous. There are only two nectivorous bat species, one of them being the Mexican Longnose Bat Leptonycteris nivalis. If you like cashews, dates or TEQUILA, you owe these bats a debt of gratitude, at the very least! They are responsible for most of the pollination process of those plants.

They drain my hummingbird feeders every night. They seem smart and are quite inquisitive. When I stand outside and watch them, they often come by and check me out. Being nectivorous, there wouldn't be any advantage to flying around me so frequently, so one draws the conclusion that they are curious. (We also have several species of insectivorous bats here. They fly around me grabbing bugs drawn to the heat signature of my body and the carbon dioxide trail from my exhalation. There are distinct differences in size and behavior in comparison to their nectar feeding brethren).

I attended a seminar on Bat Ecology on Friday. It was held by Tucson Audubon. There were night-vision cameras set up as well as a sonogram that would 'step down' the ultra high frequency calls of the bat to a level that was in the auditory threshold of humans. One new thing I learned was that the calls from the bats originate from their nose!!! My mind twisted that into, "great, so they're just flying around, defecating and blowing constant 'snot rockets'.

Here's a photo of a Mexican Longnose Bat Leptonycteris nivalis, that was caught during the seminar. It readily drank from the bottle cap, indicating that it had already been condition to feeding from artificial sources (re-feeders). Note the flea in his ear and the structure of his 'hand' with his thumb, (literally) placed on the person's thumb.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Canon Macro Lens EF 180mm 1:3.5
Canon Speedlite 430EX Flash

Handheld
Minor crop

[Dylan8i]

nice picture and great info.

with any luck i should have some pictures (although not as good) of the (endangered) indiana bat, as tonight we are going on a field trip for my animal ecology class to a study site for them, and other bats like the little brown.

lets just hope its not all after dark.

[Speed]

Very informative post and great photo.

I don't know that I'd want to hold it though...that thing has teeth!

;-)