Although
we know from fossil evidence that the bat has existed for about 50 million
years, there is a charming Ojibwe legend about how the bat came to be.
Early one
morning, as Sun was awakening to rise in the sky, he fell into a forest of very
tall trees. After searching in vain across the forest floor, the animals gave
up looking for him, resigned to live forever in darkness. Just then a brave,
small, brown squirrel volunteered to climb into the forest canopy to search for
Sun and there squirrel found him, tangled in branches and dimming with
exhaustion from his fight to free himself.
Sun
pleaded with squirrel to help him. Squirrel began chewing through the branches,
becoming hotter and hotter as his fur and tail burned away while Sun’s
light became stronger as each capturing branch fell away. Squirrel was
determined and continued to chew, finally freeing Sun at great cost to himself, for squirrel had lost his sight, his tail, and his
lovely brown fur in Sun’s fiery heat.
But Sun,
being so very grateful, bestowed upon squirrel the ability to fly like the
birds, see better than the other animals in the
forest, and have fur so soft that it was beyond description. Sun turned
squirrel into a bat; a flying mammal.
Of the
900 plus species of bats in the world, the Caribbean
holds a very interesting species of bat, the Bull Dog bat also known as the
Fishing Bat. Belonging to the order Chiroptera or
“hand wing”, bats have the same number of bones in their hand-like
wings as does the human hand. The ‘thumb’ in all bats is a small
hook used for hanging from branches or clinging to
rock walls.
The Bull
Dog bat is unique in that the ends of the wing bones have evolved into extended
talon-like claws, similar to those of eagles, which the bat uses to snatch fish
as it flies over the water’s surface. Contrary to the Ojibwe
legend and much centuries old disinformation, bats are not blind; however,
their powers of echolocation guide them more so than their sight.
The Bull
Dog bat, earning that name by reminding early scientists of their canine bull
dogs at home, has an exceptionally sophisticated echolocation ability often
compared to that of dolphins. Coming out of their roosts as the sun sets, Bull
Dog bats have shown that they can echolocate a fish fin that breaks the surface
no more than 1/16th of an inch.
The bats
then swoop in to gaff fish up to 4-5” in length and as they fly away they
move the fish into their mouths with hand-like wings. They also demonstrate an
ability to ‘remember’ a particularly fertile fishing ground where,
instead of echolocating, they simply skim the surface
as they probe the water with their claws and impale their prey.
While
most bats cannot take off from a flat surface, having to climb into a hanging
position to launch themselves, the Bull Dog bats can land on water and swim
across the surface using their wings as paddles. Fishermen throughout the
Caribbean islands have reported seeing Bull Dog bats
floating amongst flocks of pelicans in the evening, waiting for schools of bait
fish and minnows to move toward the surface from the depths. The people on the
islands of Antigua and
Barbuda honored their population of Bull Dog
fishing bats with a postage stamp.
Adult
Bull Dog bats have bodies approximately 5 inches in length with wingspans of 20
inches. Their faces are furless with a pointed muzzle, hair lipped mouths, and
tube-like noses that extend slightly beyond the mouth. Upon catching a fish,
they chew it with teeth powerful enough to crush bone and then store the
masticated fish in elastic cheek pouches, continuing to fish until dawn when
they return to their roosts.
They
roost in caves, rocky crevices, and hollow trees near sea shores, rivers, and
lakes but rarely amongst human habitats unlike other bat species. Bachelor
males roost separately from females who remain with their same female
companions for years. Although there is some variation depending on the
availability of food and weather, Bull Dog bats generally mate in the Fall, delivering one pup per year after a two month
gestation. The pup is cared for by both parents until it reaches adulthood and
can fly at the age of about one month.
While
there are no solid statistics on Bull Dog bat populations, what we do know is
that all bats, and particularly the Bull Dog bats, are under great pressure
from human encroachment. As more and more people move to our shores, the Bull
Dog bats’ habitat is being destroyed. Caves are sealed over or are
disturbed by human intrusion. Crevices are filled in to create buildable lots for homes and resorts. Trees are cut down as
land is cleared. Water is polluted and reefs are destroyed causing fish to die
or move elsewhere and the bats are disappearing for lack of habitable territory
and food. And, although it was once common to see the fishing bats, it has now
become a rare and extraordinary sight.
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