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Monday, May 4, 2009

Eek a Bat!

After we found a bat in our kitchen last night, we all did nature study in great depth and with great interest! We needed to find out if it was a vampire bat!! It seems that we have a bat colony living in the roof over our kitchen (we live in the jungle in Peru). Javen was afraid to go to sleep, not because of the bat, but because he was afraid I would kill it! My policy living here is, I appreciate the role that the yuckies (snakes, spiders, toads, bats, etc) play in bug control; as long as they are performing that role OUTSIDE. They come inside...they will die.

We searched our field guide and online for pictures to compare... today we'll do more research using HONS... hopefully, there's a section on bats?! I haven't looked yet. I was too concerned about the rabies factor ;) But, I must say I know WAY more about bats than I did the day before!

I think it's a black bonnet bat (not a vampire).








From Nature Study


Even though I don't think I could bring myself to kill the thing, I am very much against the idea of encouraging it to live in my roof!

**UPDATED - 5/20/09** The bat did die on its own the following day. We had another bat visitor several days later, whom we did not retain for study, but after a few pictures, immediately released to his outdoor happiness. Though he too seemed sick and did not fly off, but squobbled. We are hoping not to have any more surprise guests of this nature any time soon. :)


Amy
Tarapoto, Peru


Links to bat pages online:

Oh my word! Did you know there were ever so many bats?! Order Chiroptera
Keeping bats out is harder than it seems it would be... Bat Conservation tips
This page has a mini bio on the black bonnet bat - Mammals of Iwokrama

3 comments:

Destination Mom said...

Hi Amy,

I was just reading your blog. You have bats and we have an abundance of snakes. Did you ever think that you would be blogging about bats, twenty years ago? I surely never thought that I would be standing around my boys as they examined garden snakes from our yard.

I just realized that you posted on my blog some time ago. I'm sorry I hadn't responded sooner. It's so funny that you are currently living in Peru. My oldest son had the chance to go to South America a few years ago with my mom and grandma. He had such a fun time visiting Peru, Equador, and the Galopagos Islands. Your blog sounds like you are in a more desolate part of Peru. I will definitely have my son read your blog as a part of his geography lesson, so he can see how other parts of Peru look. I think he only saw mostly the famous tourist spots. Thanks again for stopping by, and hope that you will be visiting again soon. Blessing to you and your missionary work in Peru. We will be praying for your family, and your safety. If you ever want to chat, or if your children would like pen pals, my email address is: scrapin4_mhe@yahoo.com or baileyboys3mom@comcast.net

Kayluray said...

Oh my gosh! That little thing is so cute! (Well, that's easy for me to say since he's not living under MY roof). It's wonderful that you embraced the moment and did some nature study with your kids.

Unknown said...

Oh, wow! A bat in the house. I agree with your philosophy. Critters are great in the great outdoors. But inside? No way!

It's fun to read your CM styled posts. You have made some big changes, haven't you? It all sounds wonderful!

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