While a few Common Vampire bats may roost in
a hollow tree, the majority of bats are very ben-
Proboscis bat (Rhynchonycteris naso) is com-
monly 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.
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 al-
lows scientists to use bat detectors to record and
identify bats flying during the dark of night.
Bats were very important to the mythology
of the Ancient Maya.
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).
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 domes-
tic livestock, as well as wild animals, and may
become an agriculture pest.
The disease rabies can be transmitted from in-
fected 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.
eficial. 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 echolo-
cation to navigate in their environment and find
food.
Bats are “flying” rats—False!
Bats are not related to rats at all, but are more
closely related to primates (monkeys). The Cre-
ole term “Rat-Bat” most likely originated from
people seeing rats scurrying along the roof of
buildings during the day and then seeing bats fly-
ing out from under the roof in the night.
Many people think there are only two
kinds of bats in Belize, those that eat and
damage fruit and the vampire bat—False!
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!
This Common Mustached Bat (Pteronotus parnelli)
is echo locating.

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 Neo-
tropical flora and fauna and, therefore, to our
survival.
With tropical forests helping to reduce carbon di-
oxide 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 be-
come 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.
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 count-
Why Bats?
less individuals and many species, but all other
living things inside.
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 envi-
ronmental hazards.
Removing Bats from Buildings
Bats roost in dark, undisturbed areas, such as
attics and wall spaces. The entry points are of-
ten 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 al-
lows the bats to leave but not enter again. Af-
ter 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 im- Bats are very important!
portant creatures survive in Belize!
Bats provide critical ecosystem services:
Neotropical Bat Project • Bats pollinate many fruits. Without bats
bananas, mangos and guavas would not
For more information, contact:
Dr. Bruce W. Miller produce fruits!
<bats@hughes.net> • Bats disperse seeds in open areas. The habitat
regenerates as the “seed rain” from the bats
Sponsored by: 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.