162 BATS 



attention of my companion and myself was arrested by a 

 strange, pungent odor which filled the air. Upon investi- 

 gating the cause of it, we discovered a large cave of a very 

 interesting character, inhabited by thousands of bats, and 

 floored with a layer of bat guano a foot or more in depth, 



representing the accumulation of a century. 







In warm countries bats inhabit hollow trees. But do 

 they inhabit such homes, and actually hibernate in them in 

 winter, in the temperate zone? On this point direct evi- 

 dence is desirable. Dr. C. Hart Merriam has proved that 

 some bats of the North American temperate zone do migrate 

 as birds do, going south in winter and returning in spring. 



The conditions of wild life in the temperate zone are 

 rather unfavorable to the development of large bats, and for 

 this reason none of the bats of the United States are of large 

 size or commanding importance. The large fruit-bats, or 

 "flying foxes," can exist only where they can procure a good 

 supply of fruit all the year round; and for this reason they 

 are mainly confined to the tropics. During our northern win- 

 ter, a true vampire bat could indeed prey upon the blood of 

 domestic animals; but in zero weather, the naked wings of 

 such a creature would freeze stiff in a very few moments. 

 The large vampire bat of India, for some reason called the 

 "false" vampire (Meg-a-der'ma ly'ra), which devours small 

 frogs, fishes, small birds, and even bats smaller than itself, 

 could live in our southern and southwestern states, but it 

 would be impossible for it to go far north of the frost line. All 

 bats inhabiting the colder regions of the temperate zone, within 

 the snow limit, must either hibernate in winter or migrate. 



