Action Shots from Trinidad
During the first night of mist netting, our team captured a Little big-eared bat (Micronycteris megalotis). She turned out to be very cooperative, eagerly eating mealworms from Merlin’s hand before “smiling” for her portrait immediately after capture. Merlin then took her to his small training tent where we are staying at the Hacienda Jacana. Within […]
Teaming up with Trinibats
We are in Trinidad working with Trinibats, co-founded by Trinidad-born naturalist, Geoffrey Gomes, who first contacted Merlin in 2009 for advice on how to convince his government to remove bats from its vermin list. Inspired with new insights, Geoffrey has since become a self-taught, enthusiastic bat man. He is now the leading expert on bats of Trinidad […]
“Bat Girl” takes Grand Champion in Science Fair!
If you’ve been following my blogs (Letters from a Young Bat Scientist–No. 1 through No. 8) about rising star in the world of bat conservation, Alexis Valentine aka “Bat Girl,” then you know this amazing 8th grader has been extolling the virtues of bats to the public since 3rd grade, giving lectures to the Rotary Club, winning science […]
Misleading Herpes Claims Bat Flash, ScienceAlert.com, 3/4/2016
Objective Achieved – No need for further action. Thanks to Bat Fan participation, the scary photo was replaced, and no further misrepresentations have been reported. The photographer likes bats, was dismayed by the inappropriate use of his photo and has withdrawn it from circulation. March 15, 2016 B A T F L A S […]
UPDATE! Ebola: Bats Prematurely Blamed
In Merlin Tuttle’s blogged report titled, Ebola: Bats Prematurely Blamed, released on January 15, 2016, he summarized available knowledge of Ebola related to bats. He reported a prime example of extraordinarily biased sampling combined with premature speculation that had become entrenched as “fact” without the backing of credible scientific data.
“Bats and Viruses” Book Review by Merlin Tuttle
Bats and Viruses, edited by Lin-Fa Wang and Christopher Cowled, provides the first summary of current knowledge on how bats and viruses interact. It is an invaluable resource for all who are concerned about bats, whether from a public health or a conservation perspective. Given the rate of viral discovery it is commendably up-to-date. Viral […]
Photographing North America’s Rarest Bat
America’s rarest bat, the endangered Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus), was once relatively common. It often lived in tile roofs of Coral Gables and Miami, and its loud, low-frequency echolocation calls made it easy to detect. The species declined sharply in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, and by the late 1970’s extinction was feared. Then […]
“Bats in the Slats” by Thomas R. Ryan
92-year-old Tom Ryan is our latest Bat Fan! He’s also the author of a new children’s book titled Bats in the Slats. Written like a Dr. Seuss poem, Grampa Buzz teams up with a family of bats under his deck to get rid of the rats that are raiding his garden and making a mess. Tom, the […]
Scary bat story requires prompt response, Gizmodo, 11/8/15
Case Closed–No further action needed. No additional misrepresentations have been reported. Thank you Bat Fans for your participation. May 24, 2016 Grossly exaggerated stories attempting to link bats to dread diseases, generate readership and grants but divert attention from far higher priorities at great harm to environmental and human health. If not promptly countered with […]
Progress for bats via New Scientist – a call to action! 11/5/15
In its February 8, 2014 issue, New Scientist published one of the worst scare stories ever titled, Contagion: Hordes of deadly diseases are lurking in bats and sometimes jumping to people. Can we prevent a major pandemic, asks Carrie Arnold.” Merlin and leading colleagues wrote rebuttals, and we asked our Bat Fan friends to join in the protest. Now we’re […]