Bats - from Belize... need help Identifying....

cgipson1 · Aug 26, 2012

Comments welcome!

Bats in Belize by CGipson Photography, on Flickr

sm4him · Aug 26, 2012

How big were they?
Look up "proboscis bat"--looks kinda like it could be what these are.

cgipson1 · Aug 26, 2012

sm4him said:
How big were they?
Look up "proboscis bat"--looks kinda like it could be what these are.

They were about 4" in length... really cool looking little guys. I will check that out.

WesternGuy · Aug 27, 2012

Neat picture - I always thought that you had to go into a cave to find bats - :mrgreen: - their colouring is very interesting - is it some kind of camouflage?

WesternGuy

cgipson1 · Aug 28, 2012

WesternGuy said:
Neat picture - I always thought that you had to go into a cave to find bats - :mrgreen: - their colouring is very interesting - is it some kind of camouflage?

WesternGuy

Thanks! Not really sure if it is supposed to be camouflage or not, but they do have some neat patterns on their backs. This was in daylight under the jungle canopy, right at the edge of a river. Apparently as long as they don't get direct sun, some species are ok with roosting like this. Belize has a huge number of bats, and many different species. They even have the infamous Vampire Bat... little guy with sharp teeth, and ugly as hell!

seakritter · Aug 28, 2012

Ok did you tell them one, two, three pose, really cool that you got them to look in the same direction, lol, nice shot. Oh by the way I don't know what kind they are, pretty sure they are Vampire bats though, lol

cgipson1 · Aug 28, 2012

seakritter said:
Ok did you tell them one, two, three pose, really cool that you got them to look in the same direction, lol, nice shot. Oh by the way I don't know what kind they are, pretty sure they are Vampire bats though, lol

Thanks! Just standard behavior for them when roosting. Their daytime vision is limited, and they were trying to see what I was. They are Probiscus Bats (Rhynchonycteris naso) according to someone much more knowledgeable than I! I shot a lot of the critters in Belize, including some shots of some Crocodiles and Iguanas that I already posted. I just need to find time to sit down and go through, and do some minor editing on the rest before posting.