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APRIL, 1914. MAmMALS OF NoRTHERN PERU — OsGoop 179 
region we traversed. In the jalcas at elevations of 10,000 feet or more, 
we had no evidences of them, but at altitudes between 1,000 ft. and 9,000 
ft. they are generally distributed. Certain localities are noted for them 
and are avoided by mule drivers as much as possible. At Hacienda 
Llagueda and near Cajamarca, we found them roosting in caves, and 
old mine shafts or prospect holes. In such places, the ground beneath 
the suspended bats is usually filthy with accumulated excrement. It 
sometimes forms great pools of dark brown digested blood more or less 
watery or viscous in the center and gradually hardened or encrusted at 
the edges. A very large cave which we examined near Molinopampa 
must have contained several thousand of these bats and some of the 
pools of excrement were two to three feet deep. 
Our pack mules were constantly subject to attack from bats and the 
steady annoyance and loss of blood affected their general condition 
very rapidly. The point of attack was almost invariably at the top of 
the withers, apparently because this is one of the parts the victim is 
least able to protect. The wound inflicted shows on examination how 
effective is the highly developed cutting machine. A small nearly 
round button of skin about one fourth of an inch in diameter is removed 
and after the bat has sucked its fill, blood continues to flow for some 
time, streaking down the animal’s sides and even to its forelegs. Just 
how far an animal might be persecuted is uncertain but it seems quite 
possible that one weakened or temporarily defenceless might be put to 
death by its bloodthirsty tormentors. One of our mules was bitten 
thirteen times in a single night and it was not uncommon for one or 
more of them to show eight or ten wounds when it was brought in from 
a night at large. It was noticed that some of the mules were bitten 
much less frequently than others; in fact, one animal which was easily 
the most sagacious and always in better condition than the others was 
practically exempt throughout the trip. That this was due to superior 
ability to ward off the pests was quite apparent, especially since toward 
the end of the trip the animals in poorest condition continually suffered 
more and more than those not so weakened physically from other 
causes. 
On two occasions our men were bitten by bats, once when we were 
sleeping in the same room with them in a house in Moyobamba, the 
men in an alcove at one end and ourselves in the main room with doors 
open for free ventilation. I heard bats flying about during the night 
but supposed they were the common Hemiderma until morning when 
one of the men came out with a sheepish look on his face and held up his 
bare foot showing one of the characteristic round punctures on the end 
