Costa Rica's Precious Flying Mammals: Bats

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One of my favorite memories in Costa Rica, exploring a bat cave, which was equally exciting and nerve-racking
What would you do if you saw so many bats?
I can tell this bat is a fruitivore, or fruit-eater, because it belongs to the family with leaf-shaped noses
Another way to get up-close with bats is by setting up these "mist" nets, with material so thin and soft that bats can't detect it
Bats have eyesight just about as good as ours, but since that isn't enough to navigate in the dark woods at night, they also use echolocation by transmitting sound waves to find out where objects are around them
Since bats are mammals like us, not birds, they have all of the hand structures we do - even thumbs!
My friend is working to make Costa Ricans less fearful of bats by giving them common names that people can recognize. He calls this one "el gordito" or "little chubby guy"
You can tell this bat pollinates flowers because of its long mouth, kind of like a hummingbird's beak

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