Bats

The mammal with by far the most representatives in Honduras [1] is the bat, with 98 species registered at last count. Most common and one of the country’s largest species is the Jamaican fruit-eating bat, which lives on figs, bananas, and mangoes. More insidious is the vampire bat, loathed by campesinos in Central America not so much because the bat might suck their blood, but rather because it often kills off valuable livestock with paralytic rabies. An interesting sight is the greater bulldog bat, the only species in the Americas capable of catching fish, for which it is known as murciélago pescador in Honduras.

These bats, with remarkably large wingspans and long claws, frequent the waterways on the north coast. They hunt by skimming over the water, locating their prey with a nifty little sonar system, and pouncing when the small fish or crustaceans near the surface. Other species include the northern ghost bat and the Honduran white bat, both with white coloring, and the tent-making bat, which, as its name suggests, builds itself a personal chalet of leaves and twigs to bed down.