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BATS!!!

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In New Mexico, we have 25 species of bats. 15 of these live in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Bats are mammals (the females have mammary glands that provide milk to babies, most give birth to ear live young, and have fur or hair). They are the only true flying mammal. They eat tons (literally!) of insects (die you mosquito, die!) and pollinate plants in southwestern deserts. These two things are two very important ecological roles of bats.

Orientation by Bats

A really interesting feature about bats is their ability to orient in total darkness using echolocation, which involves the production of ultrasonic sounds from bat's mouth or nose. Their ears pick up the echos of the sounds of objects like cave walls. If you look at bat faces, you'll notice lots of bumps, wrinkles, projections, and appendages (some of these appendages are leaf-like). These appendages help with echolocation.

Carlsbad Cavern Bats

Carlsbad is home to a large nursery colony (they have their babies there) of Mexican free-tailed bats. You can watch these bats come out of the cave at dusk and hear the talk about them during the summer and early fall months at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It's an impressive site!

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