March 30, 2018

New species of bat found on Sint Eustatius

Filed under: Animals by Orangemaster @ 8:59 am

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On Sint Eustatius, a small island in the Caribbean that is part of the Netherlands, a new species of bat has been discovered by a team of Dutch experts, working together with Americans.

Since the first thing bats do when they wake up is drink water, and there’s very little fresh water on the island, the bats drink from swimming pools, which is where they are caught.

Along with the velvety free-tailed bat (Molossus molossus), the Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), the lesser Antillian fruitbat (Brachyphylla cavernarum) and the rare treebat (Ardops nichollsi), the experts stumbled upon a small, nectar-eating bat with a long tongue that takes over the task of the humming bird at night.

Feel free to read a 28-page report in English [PDF] published this month on the matter, if that’s your thing.

(Link and photo: naturetoday.com)

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November 27, 2015

Westland bat bridge wins architectural award

Filed under: Animals,Architecture,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 7:00 am

Bat-bridge

Last October the ‘Vlotwatering bridge’ or ‘bat bridge’ was opened in a nature area called Westland in South Holland, designed by NEXT Architects of Amsterdam and picked up an ARC15 Detail Award, given to them unanimously by the jury. The bridge is in Monster (yup, a Dutch town) and it was applauded for its ‘eye for detail and attention to biodiversity’.

According to NEXT Architects, the bridge was designed to house bats in as many ways as possible. The bridge has three specific bridge components that provide roost for different bat species throughout the entire yea, intended to constitute the ideal habitat for various species of bats, so that a large colony can grow around the bridge.

(Links: www.naturetoday.com, www.archdaily.com, www.nextarchitects.com, Photo: www.nextarchitects.com)

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