2017 Bat Calendar
2017 calendar of Merlin Tuttle’s bat photography is now available! View the photos and get your calendar HERE
The Power of Bat Photos
Stellaluna was brilliantly written and beautifully illustrated by one of our first Bat Fans, Janell Cannon. It’s the story of a baby fruit bat who gets separated from its mother. Since publication in 1993 this book has been translated into 30 languages. Stellaluna is a classic that significantly helped to endear kids, big and small, to if not […]
BAT FLASH! Countering Irresponsible Speculation that Threatens both Bats and Public Health
What’s going on? The October 26, 2016 issue of ScienceDaily published an especially misleading story that poses a direct threat to both bats and public health. In this story, a fragment of an influenza A-like virus was discovered in a Latin American fruit-eating bat. The initial conclusion was that it posed “little, if any, pandemic threat to humans.” A little yellow-shouldered baat (Sturnira lilium), […]
BAT FLASH! Countering Delta Airlines Promotion of Bat-Eating
What’s Going On? In its October 2016 issue, Sky Delta, Delta Airlines in-flight magazine, published a particularly offensive article titled Dare-to-Eat-Foods, sub-headed “Looking to up your culinary fear factor? Give one of these five uncommon-in-the-U.S. items a try,” by Andrew Zimmern. The article recommends hunting and eating bats, animals that are being over-hunted to the verge of extinction, […]
White-Nose Syndrome: New Policies Needed for Cave Management
Merlin has updated our White-Nose Syndrome resource page. As he explains, WNS has now spread from coast to coast despite our best efforts. There is no longer hope of stopping, slowing or finding a cure that can be effectively applied. It is time to focus on helping the survivors rebuild populations from resistant remnants. Further surveys to […]
Merlin’s response on bats and mosquito control
We have been receiving increasing inquiries about the possible relevance of bats and bat houses to mosquito control. Here is Merlin’s response. A little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) in flight in Wisconsin. One bat can catch up to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects in a single hour.
Mission Accomplished in Taiwan
Taiwan’s Endemic Species Research Institute provided ideal facilities and hospitality thanks to Director, Kuo-Yun Fang’s and Research Fellow, Hsi-Chi Cheng’s enthusiastic support and the outstanding collaboration of their staff, especially Cheng-Han Chou (Shock) and Yu-chun Tan (Tammy). Setting up our bat photo studio at the Endemic Species Research Institute in Taiwan Teresa Tang helping Merlin frame and […]
Formosan Golden Bats’ Home to Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science
After taking over 1,500 photographs, here are some shots from the Formosan Golden Bat’s Home. Formosan golden bat (Myotis formosus flavus) portrait Formosan golden bat (Myotis formosus flavus) group roosting in tree Formosan golden bat (Myotis formosus flavus) in flight Formosan golden bat (Myotis formosus flavus) group roosting in tree Formosan golden bat (Myotis formosus […]
Bats in Taiwanese art
Bats are found in abundance in Chinese and Taiwanese art. Around the corner from our hotel in Beigang, we visited a 400-year-old Temple dedicated to Matsu, the goddess of the sea. Matsu’s birthday is the 23rd day of the third lunar month and coincides with the return of the golden bats from their winter hibernation […]
Formosan golden bats of Taiwan
Mr. Chang and mascot of the Formosan Golden Bat’s Home Following 30 hours of travel, we spent our first day recuperating in Taipei, got up early the next morning for a 2.5-hour drive to the Formosan Golden Bat’s Home on the campus of the Sheng-Zheng Elementary School, where we met our host, 43-year-old Heng-Chia Chang. As a […]