Animals on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Costa Rica is home to 200 species of mammals and more than half of these species can fly.
105 different kinds of Bats live in Costa Rica. They
play a very important role for the nature because they disperse seeds
and many plants depend completely on bats as their only pollinators.
During the day, the lunarphobic animals are slumbering in hollow trees, under palm
leaves, wooden roofs, or in the jeans jacket we eventually let them.
Soon after sunset these useful animals start swooping around trees and homes catching
huge quantities of mosquitoes and other insects, or feed on fruits and nectar. Bats
orient themselves in the darkness through echoes sounding back from their ultrasonic cries.
There are even two white colored bat species living in Costa Rica: the tiny Carribean
White Bat and the much larger and rare Ghost Bat seen on the right picture.
Picture above: Tent-making bats live under palm leaves