 | Script Audiovisual Program
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| Script Audiovisual Program
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| IMAGES | SCRIPT |
| 1. Music begins | Blank |
| 2. Title slide | Bats of America |
| 3. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) approaching saguaro flower (#0001100) | Life in America wouldn't be the same without bats. Most people don't know that they pollinate flowers, |
| 4. Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus, in flight with katydid (#0001101) | or control countless insect pests. In fact, many of America's most fascinating and beneficial animals are bats. More than 46 kinds come... |
| 5. Spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) portrait (#0001102) | in a surprising variety. This spectacular spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) has enormous pink ears that can be rolled up during sleep. |
| 6. Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) portrait (#0001103) | Hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus), with their long, silky fur, are among the most handsomely colored. |
| 7. Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) portrait (#0001104) | Long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) have narrow heads, specially adapted for pollinating flowers, and... |
| 8. Peter's ghost-faced bat (Mormoops megalophylla) portrait (#0001105) | ghost-faced bats (Mormoops megalophylla), with eyes that seem to be in their ears, have very strange faces indeed! |
| 9. Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) portrait (#0001106) | Our 17 kinds of myotis bats are among those most frequently seen. |
| 10. Western mastiff bat (Eumops perotis) portrait (#0001107) | The western mastiff (Eumops perotis) is America's gentle giant, the largest North American bat, with a wingspan of nearly two feet (0.6 m). |
| 11. Western pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus) on left Western mastiff bat (Eumops perotis) on right (#0001108) | It weighs 22 times more than our smallest bat, the western pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus). While these two bats live in remote places where they're rarely seen... |
| 12. Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) roosting (#0001109) | these inquisitive pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) are commonly found in buildings throughout the western United States and Canada. |
| 13. Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) roosting (#0001110) | Big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) live in buildings nearly everywhere. People who find such bats often panic, mistakenly assuming them to be dangerous. Like most mammals, a few, less than half of one percent, contract rabies. But even these rarely become aggressive. |
| 14. Dr. Denny Constantine, bat expert, California Department of Health (#0001111) | Authorities warn that bats should never be picked up, because sick ones are the most easily caught. Bats are wild animals and, if handled, may bite in self-defense. |
| 15. Evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) roosting (#0001112) | Simply left alone, bats are harmless. If it's necessary to remove a colony from a building... |
| 16. Bat exiting a roost site (#0001113) | they can be safely evicted by use of netting hung in front of their exits. Leaving the bottom open will allow the bats to escape, yet prohibits their return. Several evenings later, when the bats are gone, their holes can be plugged. |
| 17. Entrance to Bracken Cave (#0001114) | America's largest bat colonies live in caves. Bracken Cave in Central Texas is the summer home of 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis). |
| 18. Interior of Bracken Cave (#0001115) | Thousands of square feet of cave walls are covered by literally 240 tons (218 metric tonnes) of roosting bats, up to 500 per square foot (5,380 m2). Bats gather here to raise their young in what is known as a nursery colony. |
| 19. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) mother and young (#0001201) | A mother gives birth to just one pup each year and quickly learns to recognize its voice and scent. The baby's survival depends on her finding and nursing it several times a day. |
| 20. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) young in maternity roost (#0001202) | Amazingly, she remembers her own pup's exact location and voice even though it is packed tightly among millions of others. Babies grow rapidly... |
| 21. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) in flight (#0001203) | learning to fly and navigate in about four to five weeks. This is an incredible achievement considering that it is accomplished... |
| 22. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) emergence (#0001204) | in a traffic jam where several potential collisions must be avoided each second. Young bats that survive... |
| 23. Black rat snake hunting southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius) (#0001205) | predators, such as snakes and owls who wait at cave entrances, may live up to 30 or more years. |
| 24. Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) roosting (#0001206) | Some of America's most interesting bats never use caves. Hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) live in trees and are found from southern South America to northern Canada. |
| 25. Red bat (Lasiurus borealis) mother roosting with twin young (#0001207) | Most bats produce only one pup per year, but the foliage-roosting red bat (Lasiurus borealis), another wide ranging species, usually has twins or triplets, and sometimes even quadruplets! Like all bats, the babies are nourished by their mother's milk. |
| 26. Red bat (Lasiurus borealis) roosting (#0001208) | In the fall, our red and hoary bats migrate south to milder climates, where some hibernate in tree cavities, such as woodpecker holes. |
| 27. Silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) roosting (#0001209) | Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) roost in bark crevices and small tree hollows, where their coloration provides camouflage from enemies. They, too, must travel south for winter. |
| 28. Southern yellow bat (Lasiurus ega) roosting (#0001210) | Some southern species don't need to escape winter. This yellow bat (Lasiurus ega) lives in palm fronds or Spanish moss. |
| 29. Hubbards Cave (#0001211) | Most American bats must find shelter in a cave or abandoned mine before winter sets in. They hibernate until spring, living on stored fat reserves. |
| 30. Gray myotis (Myotis grisescens) hibernating (#0001212) | Gray bats (Myotis grisescens) live in caves year-round and have highly specialized roosting requirements. These are hibernating in one of nine critically important caves that house 95 percent of the species population each winter. |
| 31. Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis) hibernating (#0001213) | Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) also spend the winter in just a few caves, typically packed into dense clusters. |
| 32. Eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus) hibernating (#0001214) | Eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subflavus) hibernate alone, often covered with condensed moisture droplets. |
| 33. Hibernation cave (#0001215) | All hibernating bats are extremely vulnerable to human disturbance. Thousands die each winter when visits by amateur cave explorers force them to awaken and waste stored fat needed to keep them alive until spring. |
| 34. Desert oasis (#0001301) | Remote cliff faces near desert oases provide year-round homes for several of America's most spectacular bats. |
| 35. Spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) roosting (#0001302) | The spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) is certainly one of the world's most unusual mammals, yet very little is known of its habits. |
| 36. Western mastiff bat (Eumops perotis) roosting (#0001303) | The western mastiff (Eumops perotis) lives in deep crevices high up on cliff faces. It has such narrow wings that it must drop some 15 feet (4.5 m.) just to gain flight. |
| 37. Western pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus) perched on rock (#0001304) | Tiny western pipistrelles (Pipistrellus hesperus) are often the first bats seen in twilight skies. |
| 38. Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) eating a scorpion (#0001305) | Pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) are unique in that they catch grasshoppers, crickets and even scorpions directly from the ground. |
| 39. Little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) echolocating in flight (#0001306) | Most bats hunt flying prey, navigating with pulses of sound emitted through the mouth. Sensitive ears hear the echoes reflected from even tiny insects. They also can see and certainly can avoid blundering into people's hair. |
| 40. Red bat (Lasiurus borealis) in flight (#0001307) | This red bat's (Lasiurus borealis) hunting signals, before and during pursuit of an insect, can be heard using special recording equipment. ~~~~~Recorded call sequence*~~~~~ |
| 41. Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) in flight with moth (#0001308) | America's myotis bats make good neighbors. This one has caught a moth, but when mosquitoes hatch, a single bat can catch up to 1200 in just one hour! |
| 42. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) emergence (#0001309) | The 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) from Bracken Cave catch a half million pounds (227 metric tonnes) of insects each night over surrounding towns and farmland. |
| 43. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) emergence (#0001310) | Prior to their widespread destruction by humans, bats often filled the evening skies. Even now, they remain the most important natural controllers of insect pests that fly at night... |
| 44. Moth larva (#0001311) | including corn borer and other moths whose larva attack crops. The loss of bats inescapably increases our reliance on... |
| 45. Crop duster spraying insecticide (#0001312) | chemical alternatives that already seriously threaten our health. Hundreds of insect pests are now developing immunity to agricultural pesticides, making the conservation of all nature's original controls urgently important. |
| 46. Agave plant (Agave palmerii) (#0001313) | In the desert Southwest, bats are vital pollinators of agaves and other plants. |
| 47. Lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris curasoae) pollinating agave flowers (#0001314) | This agave, also know as a century plant, is so dependent on long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris curasoae) that if its flowers aren't visited by bats, the odds of successful seed production drop to one three-thousandth of normal. |
| 48. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) pollinating organ pipe cactus flower (#0001315) | Some of the West's most famous cacti, such as organ pipe and saguaro, have flowers that open at night. Special shapes and odors attract bat pollinators. |
| 49. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) approaching saguaro flower (#0001401) | This bat's face is already covered with pollen from another saguaro flower. Cross pollination is achieved... |
| 50. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) pollinating saguaro flower (#0001402) | as the bat's head enters the flower. In exchange for the pollination service, bats are rewarded with large quantities of nectar. |
| 51. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in cross-section of pollination process (#0001403) | A flower cross-section illustrates how this virtual lock and key relationship works. In order to reach the nectar, the bat must first become covered with pollen that is then carried from flower to flower. |
| 52. Sonoran Desert landscape (#0001404) | Without large numbers of long-nosed bats, these cacti could decline, endangering numerous other plants and animals that depend on them for their own survival. |
| 53. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in flight (#0001405) | Yet, long-nosed bats are endangered, with only two nursery colonies known to remain in the United States. Dangerously late, we are now in a race against time to save these and other equally important American bats. |
| 54. Southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius) returning to cave (#0001406) | Loss of even a single bat colony can lead to the extinction of numerous other organisms that rely on nutrients brought into caves through bat droppings, known as guano. |
| 55. Guano pile (#0001401) (#0001407) | Guano provides the primary nutrient source for entire ecosystems of unique cave life. |
| 56. Tablespoon of guano (#0001408) | Bat guano is so rich in nutrients that a single tablespoon full can contain hundreds of species of bacteria of great potential value. Recent tests show that some of these produce enzymes that can be used to detoxify industrial wastes. |
| 57. New bacteria found in Bracken Cave* (#0001409) | The bacteria seen in these cultures came from a single Texas bat cave and may soon be used to produce detergents and even gasohol and antibiotics. |
| 58. Blind cave fish (#0001410) | The Alabama cave fish lives under a bat roost in only one cave in the entire world. Loss of the bat colony could lead to its extinction along with hundreds of species of other unique organisms. |
| 59. Gray myotis (Myotis grisescens) in flight (#0001411) | Many colonies of cave-dwelling bats already have been lost due to careless human disturbance. Endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens) live in caves year-round and are therefore especially vulnerable. |
| 60. Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis) roosting (#0001412) | Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) were once abundant throughout much of eastern North America. They are now endangered, and government surveys document a 55 percent decline in just eight years! |
| 61. Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) roosting (#0001413) | Eastern populations of Townsend's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) are already endangered, and recent surveys from California, Oregon and Washington indicate that the species is now endangered in the West as well. |
| 62. Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) roosting in cave (#0001414) | Each kind of bat has its own unique needs for living space. Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) once formed colonies in the entrances of many southeastern caves. |
| 63. Rafinesque's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) colony in cave (#0001415) | They were thus exceptionally vulnerable to disturbance. This is the last cave-dwelling colony known to remain. |
| 64. Western long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis) roosting (#0001501) | These long-eared bats (Myotis evotis) are seldom seen and may be endangered. Their population status remains unstudied, and they are therefore ineligible to receive government protection. Sadly, this is true for many bats. |
| 65. Disappearing bat habitat (#0001502) | Some bats moved into old wooden barns and houses when surrounding forests were cut, but such structures are now being rebuilt with metal or other bat-proof materials. |
| 66. Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) roost (#0001503) | This colony of Yuma bats (Myotis yumanensis) successfully found a new home in the spaces beneath... |
| 67. Bridge habitat (#0001504) | an old wooden bridge that is now scheduled for replacement. Survival of such bats, all across America, is seriously threatened. |
| 68. Congress Avenue bridge, Austin, Texas (#0001505) | Some modern bridge designs do offer hope, if builders can be persuaded to use them. The Congress Avenue bridge in Austin, Texas, shelters an estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) that consume more than 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg.) of insects nightly. |
| 69. Congress Avenue bridge, Austin, Texas (close-up) (#0001506) | These bats live in long, vertical crevices, an inch wide by 16 inches deep (2.5 cm wide by 40 cm deep). |
| 70. Protective mine roost being prepared (#0001507) | Private corporations are also beginning to play an important role in bat conservation efforts. This entry to an abandoned mine in northern California was reopened and gated by the Homestake Mining Company to provide new bat habitat. |
| 71. Townsend's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) roosting in mine (#0001508) | The mine was quickly occupied by Townsend's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii). Additional protective efforts are now planned. |
| 72. Missouri-style bat house* (#0001509) | Other conservation initiatives include use of artificial bat houses. This type has successfully attracted colonies of bats to state parks across the country. |
| 73. Hubbards Cave (#0001510) | Protection of essential caves is vital to bat conservation in many places. An enormous gate was built at Hubbards Cave in Tennessee to protect its bats from human disturbance and vandalism. |
| 74. Hubbards Cave (#0001511) | This permanent protection was gained through the cooperative efforts of The Nature Conservancy, the National Guard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bat Conservation International and professional cavers from five states. |
| 75. Hibernating bats in Hubbards Cave (#0001512) | Each winter, bats from much of the southeastern United States seek shelter in Hubbards Cave. |
| 76. Gray myotis (Myotis grisescens) sanctuary (#0001513) | Such sanctuaries already have helped reestablish hundreds of thousands of bats. |
| 77. Red bat (Lasiurus borealis) roosting in fall foliage (#0001514) | America's bats are a vital resource, but their survival and the health of environments we all must share are increasingly our responsibility. |
| 78. Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) approaching cardon cactus flower (#0001515) | When we put myths and superstitions aside, bats can be appreciated as fascinating and highly beneficial animals. |
| 79. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) emergence (#0001516) | Though much remains to be done, the success of recent conservation initiatives holds promise for the future. |
| 80. Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) portrait (#0001517) | We hope you will want to join us in these efforts. |
Bats of America Script
Bats: Rainforest Allies Script
Mini Slide Set: Rare and Endangered Bats List of Images
Mini Slide Set: Common North American Bats List of Images
Mini Slide Set: Bats in Eastern North American Forests List of Images
Mini Slide Set: Bats in Western North American Forests List of Images
Mini Slide Set: Bats: Partners in Pollination List of Images
Los Murcielagos de America Latina
(English language script for review only)
Updated: 02.21.03
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