April 2009 Journal #5    Page 1

Just exactly how good is bat echolocation, anyway? It's hard to fully appreciate their use of sound for steering without actually seeing them in action. As the sun went down at kilometer mark 107 on Highway 186 in southern Campeche, a black cloud of creatures appeared in the sky; if we thought that was as close as were going to get to the bats, we were sorely mistaken.

Because our eyes were trained to the sky, watching thousands of bats ascend from the depths of their cave, we almost didn't notice the small creatures whizzing by us in the gloom. It became apparent soon, however, that the bats worth watching weren't the ones high in the sky. Soaring and swooping, dodging cars as well as Centre students, bats sped across the road and into the forest. A bat would appear to be swooping straight at your face, only to divert its course at the last second and brush past your shoulder or your leg.

As a testament to their superior navigation, we didn't witness a single bat collision, be it with a car or person, giving us a new appreciation for a creature infamous for its "blindness." This rewarding detour on the highway was part of our weeklong class trip across the southern Yucatan. Because of the biology focus this semester, we were able to do things no other Centre-in-Mexico class has done before.



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